Rheinmetall to produce solar panels in South Africa

German industrial group Rheinmetall plans to build its first South African plant to produce photovoltaic (PV) panels for the power-deprived local market, a company executive told Reuters on Thursday. The decline of debt-crippled state utility Eskom has this year led to the worst power cuts on record in Africa’s most industrialised economy. This week most South Africans have been without power for at least six hours a day.
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Plugging research gaps essential to understanding state of renewables employment

A new report published by Trade and Industrial Policies Strategies (TIPS) has indicated that research gaps must be addressed to better establish employment numbers and characteristics, including the quality of jobs, in the venture capital firms supplying the renewable energy industries in South Africa. The report – ‘The state of research on renewable energy value chains in South Africa: Firms and employment characteristics – outlines challenges, such as inconsistent employment measures and methods, including differing uses and applications of job metrics.
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Opportunities, challenges in local value chain for solar, wind energy

Two new reports published by Trade and Industrial Policies Strategies (TIPS), relating to solar and wind energy respectively, point out that electricity market reform is likely to drive an increase in solar and wind energy projects across the country, which will, in turn, increase demand for components and services in these industries.   For solar, the report – ‘Insights into the solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing value chain in South Africa’ – indicates the critical need for reliable and sustained demand. as well as policy certainty, in the solar PV space.
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SAWEA expresses grave concern over grid-access rules as no wind project prevails under expanded …

The South African Wind Energy Associations (SAWEA) has expressed dismay that none of the 23 wind-project bids submitted as part of government’s latest and expanded renewables procurement round were selected preferred bidders and expressed concern about the current system for allocating grid access. Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe announced on December 8 that only sixth solar projects, with a combined capacity of 1 000 MW, had been appointed a preferred bidders following the sixth bid window (BW6) of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Progamme.
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Another 13 solar projects sign agreements under delayed BW5

A further 13 solar photovoltaic (PV) projects have signed agreements with Eskom and government raising to 19 the number of projects that are now set to proceed under the much-delayed fifth bid window (BW5) of South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). All 19 projects, which have a combined investment value of R34.3-billion, were selected as preferred bidders in October last year, when a total of 25 wind and solar PV projects were named.
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Sacci calls for complete Eskom overhaul

The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) says the solutions that are being thrown at struggling State-owned energy utility Eskom are clearly not solving the problem and both Cabinet members and the Eskom board are not getting on top of the situation.

The entity believes the level of instability in the provision of power has serious negative implications for South Africa, given the country’s high unemployment rate and moribund economy.

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Eskom confirms delay of Koeberg Unit 1 maintenance shutdown

Power utility Eskom has decided to delay the start of the planned maintenance shutdown of Koberg Unit 1 to allow time to stabilise the power system and recover some generation capacity. The unit has been online for 407 days since the last outage and the utility now plans to start the refuelling and maintenace outage on December 10 if grid conditions have recovered to ensure stability of the system.
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Metros strengthen fault response capacity amid Stage 6 blackouts

The city councils of Cape Town and Johannesburg have both deployed additional personnel to ensure the speedy resolution of outages and faults, especially during peak hours, following Eskom’s announcement that it is implementing Stage 6 loadshedding as of December 7.

The State-owned power utility has warned of scheduled blackouts of up to 12 hours a day as energy capacity drops owing to lagging repairs at its fleet of coal-fired power stations.

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Gordhan calls on Eskom to get South Africa out of Stage 6 loadshedding

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has directed the management and board of power utility Eskom to work hard to get the country out of Stage 6 loadshedding with immediate effect. “I met the board of Eskom yesterday. I have directed them to meet and act with a great sense of urgency to ensure that the management of Eskom gets the country out of Stage 6 loadshedding with immediate effect.
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Only six solar projects advance to preferred-bidder status following latest renewables round

In a disappointing development, Minerals Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has announced the appointment of only six preferred bidders, with a combined capacity of 1 000 MW, following the evaluation of bids made during South Africa’s latest renewables procurement round. All six are solar photovoltaic (PV) projects, with none of the 23 wind projects submitted under Bid Window 6 (BW6) of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) advancing to preferred-bidder status.
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