SA sun and wind, unlike Eskom’s coal, can’t be stolen by ‘sophisticated’ crooks, says De Ruyter

Eskom CEO André de Ruyter has slammed critics of the utility’s move towards renewables, away from coal, arguing that their arguments are not only illogical, but akin to wanting to keep SA stuck in the “Stone Age”. “When a technology reaches the end of its life, it doesn’t make sense to continue to perpetuate it. The Stone Age didn’t end because of a lack of stones. The mere fact that we have a lot of stones in SA doesn’t mean we should have more stone tools,” De Ruyter told Daily Maverick’s The Gathering event in Cape Town on Thursday.
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UK, South Africa to establish Partnership on Minerals for Future Clean Energy Technologies

UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly announced this week that the UK and South Africa were establishing a new Partnership on Minerals for Future Clean Energy Technologies to promote increased responsible exploration, production and processing of minerals in South Africa and Southern Africa. Countries in the Southern African region are among the world’s leading producers of vital minerals used in clean technology, including platinum group metals and iridium for hydrogen production and vanadium and manganese for battery storage.
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CSIR solar PV testing lab ensuring quality standards

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research’s (CSIR’s) solar photovoltaic (PV) module testing laboratory, built on site at its campus, in Pretoria, boasts equipment, expertise and capacity to undertake accelerated reliability stress testing on PV modules to ensure their quality and reliability.
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AIIM to provide R1.6bn to support establishment of renewable energy platform

One of Africa’s largest infrastructure-focused private equity fund managers African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM) has agreed to provide initial equity funding of up to R1.6-billion to support the establishment of a new renewable energy platform NOA Group Holdings to deliver net-zero energy solutions for Africa. The transaction will be financed through a mix of equity provided by AIIM’s South African IDEAS Fund and the latest iteration of AIIM’s dollar-denominated pan-African investment fund AIIF4.
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Another coal truck driver arrested at Camden power station

State-owned Eskom has reported that another coal delivery truck driver has been arrested at the Camden power station, in Mpumalanga, after he was found in possession of subgrade coal destined for use by the power utility.   The truck belongs to a transporter that is contracted to deliver coal to Eskom. Two other truck drivers were arrested two weeks ago at the same power station for being in possession of stolen coal. 
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Coal truck driver apprehended at Eskom’s Camden station a week after ‘sabotage’ arrest

A truck driver was arrested at Eskom’s Camden station on Tuesday for allegedly tampering with coal, just a week after the utility caught a contractor trying to sabotage operations at the same station. The truck belongs to a company contracted to deliver coal to Eskom. Two other drivers were arrested at the same power station while in possession of stolen coal two weeks ago.
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Eskom diesel plan will be announced in the coming days, says Gordhan

A plan to deal with Eskom’s diesel crisis will be announced in the coming days, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan told Parliament on Wednesday. Eskom said last week that it had overspent its budget for diesel and had no more cash to buy new stocks until 1 April. Diesel is used to run Eskom’s two open-gas cycle turbine power plants, each of which can ward off a stage of load shedding.
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Southern Africa’s largest man-made dam drains to record low

Water levels at the Kariba reservoir, Southern Africa’s largest man-made dam, have dropped to a record low. The dam had 5.63% of usable storage on Monday compared with 27% at the same time last year and less than the previous low set almost three decades ago, according to data available on the Zambezi River Authority’s website. Normally, water levels start rising in January.
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Nestlé adds solar capacity at its Babelegi plant as part of 2050 net-zero plans

Food and beverage company Nestlé’s East & Southern Africa Region (ESAR) has installed a 966 kW ground-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant at its Babelegi manufacturing plant, in Hammanskraal, Gauteng. The 1 806 PV panels are expected to deliver about 2.1-million kilowatt-hours of energy a year, which equates to 15.6% of the total electrical energy requirement of the factory, which manufacturers Cremora coffee creamer and Maggi two-minute noodles, for the full year.
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Omnia sees further growth in targeted sectors, interim earnings up 30%

JSE-listed diversified chemicals producer Omnia grew its interim earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, excluding its Zimbabwean operations and impairments, by 30% year-on-year to R1.4-billion for the six months ended September 30.

This resulted in the group’s adjusted headline earnings a share from continuing operations being 32% higher year-on-year, at R4.01.

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