IEA wants mandate broadened to include critical minerals to avert new Russia-like vulnerabilities

The head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) has called for an expansion of the organisation’s mandate and membership to enable it to support the global transition to a “clean and secure” energy future and to ensure that the world’s climate goals do not become “another victim of Russia’s aggression”. Addressing a gathering of energy Ministers in Paris against the backdrop of ongoing market turmoil precipitated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, IEA executive director Fatih Birol said the organisation needed to adapt to a fast-changing energy environment.
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Half of Chernobyl nuclear facility staff relieved after some 600 hours at their workplaces

It has been confirmed that half of the duty staff at the Chornobyl (better known by the Russian version of its name, Chernobyl) nuclear site in Ukraine were successfully rotated off-duty on Sunday. The Chornobyl site is currently occupied by invading Russian forces. Chornobyl was seized by the Russians on February 24 and the shift then on duty were unable to be relieved and had remained at their stations ever since. On Sunday, 50 staff, plus nine National Guards (Ukraine’s paramilitary police force) – one of them a cancer patient – and a member of the National Emergency Service were allowed to leave the site. They were replaced by 46 Chornobyl staff who volunteered to relieve them.
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AfDB’s Adesina starts South Africa visit

African Development Bank (AfDB) Group president Dr Akinwumi Adesina has started a three-day official visit to South Africa. He will meet with President Cyril Ramaphosa, as well as various other government and industry leaders, to discuss important global and regional concerns, the AfDB’s development agenda and South Africa’s potential for increased trade and investment with the rest of Africa.
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Tronox signs PPA for 200 MW of solar power for its South African operations

NYSE-listed titanium dioxide pigment manufacturer Tronox Holdings has entered into a long-term power purchase agreement with independent power producer SOLA Group to provide 200 MW of solar power to Tronox’s mines and smelters in South Africa. The renewable energy project is expected to be implemented by the fourth quarter of 2023.
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AfDB’s Adesina starts visit in South Africa

African Development Bank (AfDB) Group president Dr Akinwumi Adesina has started a three-day official visit to South Africa. He will meet with President Cyril Ramaphosa, as well as various other government and industry leaders, to discuss important global and regional concerns, the AfDB’s development agenda and South Africa’s potential for increased trade and investment with the rest of Africa.
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Court decision to determine South African power security, DNG plans

A court hearing on Tuesday will determine whether South Africa can move forward with a project to top up its energy capacity after a year of record power blackouts. The ruling will also be critical for the businessman who blocked the plan with his lawsuit. The country’s efforts to add power capacity with an emergency program ground to a halt when 39-year-old Aldworth Mbalati’s DNG group of companies sued the government alleging corruption in the award of a contract. DNG, which has UK politician Peter Hain on its board and, according to Mbalati, counts Helios Investment Partners among its backers, lost the case in South Africa’s High Court in January. It applied to appeal, a decision on which will determine whether the project will be stalled further.
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Eskom considering taking on climate funds as equity injection

State power company Eskom is planning to propose that some of the funding the country secured to help tackle climate change take the form of loans to the government that could be converted to equity in the utility when needed. The arrangement would enable Eskom to access the $8.5-billion pledged by the US, the UK, Germany, France and the European Union without adding to its debt burden, a person familiar with the proposal said. The company wants to use the money to fund the closing of some coal-fired power plants and the construction of renewable-energy facilities to replace them.
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Innovative citizen ownership model proposed for just transition to renewables

A financial model that enables the building of public renewables assets using funds from citizens, who receive ongoing inflation-adjusted payments in return that are linked to the asset’s power purchase agreement (PPA), is being proposed for integration into South Africa’s planned just energy transition. The mechanism is being promoted by energy specialist Clyde Mallinson, who believes the approach could help allay the fears of those stakeholders who remain sceptical of wholesale private ownership of generation assets, while also delivering tangible security-of-supply and financial benefits to municipalities along with annuity payments to citizen investors.
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Court orders government to clean up air in coal belt

A South African court on Friday upheld a complaint by activists that poor air quality in the coal belt is a breach of constitutional rights, giving the environment minister a year to enforce a clean air plan. South Africa’s coal belt, east of the capital Pretoria and main city Johannesburg is home to an estimated 3.6-million people, as well as a dozen Eskom coal-fired power stations and some Sasol petrochemicals plants.
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Carbon prices decline despite energy costs increasing owing to war on Ukraine – Fitch Solutions

Carbon prices have tumbled in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, decoupling from the broader energy complex, despite the steep rise in gas prices, which should have incentivised gas-to-coal switching, raising emissions and so driving up the demand for European emissions allowances (EUAs), says research organisation Fitch Solutions. From a peak of €96/t carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2e) on February 8, to their trough at €58/t CO2e on March 7, EUAs lost about 40% of their value, the agency states.
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