Govt aiming to wrap up consultations on R1.5tr JET-IP by mid-Feb

Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy reports that public consultations on the country’s Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET-IP), which was unveiled only days before the start of COP27, should be concluded by mid-February. In a briefing following the conclusion of the climate negotiations that took place in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Creecy said that the Presidential Climate Commission would help facilitate the consultations, which she said would “fundamentally assist us in shaping the implementation plan”.
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Lekela forges ahead with Senegal battery plant, eyes hydrogen projects

Lekela Power, the company with the most renewable energy assets in Africa, plans to soon complete financial arrangements for the biggest battery storage facility in the west of the continent and wants to expand into providing electricity for green hydrogen projects. The Amsterdam-based company intends building a 160 MWh battery plant next to its 159 MW Parc Eolien Taiba N’Diaye wind-powered power facility in Senegal, said Chris Antonopoulos, Lekela’s chief executive officer, stressing that they are separate projects.
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The Impact Catalyst launches in Mpumalanga

Large-scale, socioeconomic development initiative driver The Impact Catalyst was launched in Mpumalanga on November 21 to promote initiatives designed to leverage collaboration to deliver a collective, cross-sectoral impact.

The Impact Catalyst – founded by Anglo American, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Exxaro and World Vision South Africa – has already been launched in Limpopo and the Northern Cape.

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India’s Jindal wins bid to build Botswana’s 300 MW coal power plant

Botswana has picked India’s Jindal Steel & Power Ltd as the preferred bidder in a tender to build a 300 megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant, a notice from its energy ministry showed on Monday. It is the only fossil fuel-based power plant the Southern African country plans to procure in the next 20 years.
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Loadshedding downgraded again, for now

Stage 4 loadshedding (instead of Stage 5) will be implemented continuously until 05:00 on Tuesday morning, Eskom said on Monday afternoon. Thereafter Stage 2 loadshedding will be implemented daily at 05:00 – 16:00.
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Extreme load shedding ahead as Eskom diesel budget runs dry

Eskom said on Sunday that it has run out of cash to buy diesel and does not plan to order any more until 1April 1, 2023.  The consequence of this will be extreme levels of loadshedding not yet experienced in South Africa. 
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Salga advises Maluti-a-Phofung municipality against signing active partnering agreement with Eskom

The South African Local Government Association (Salga) says it does not support the proposed active partnering agreement between State-owned utility Eskom and the Maluti-a-Phofung local municipality, in the Free State, which purports to assist the municipality with operational challenges to secure revenue to enable payment of its bulk electricity account. Under this arrangement, Eskom intends to take over the electricity distribution function, including all related revenue, and out of the hands of the municipality.
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Juwi commissions solar hybrid project at Sukari gold mine

Renewable energy company Juwi is in the final stages of commissioning a large solar hybrid project, in Egypt, comprising a 36 MW solar farm and 7.5 MW battery storage system.

The solar farm and battery storage, which is powering Centamin’s Sukari gold mine, have been integrated into an existing diesel power station.

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CSIR launches Energy Industry Support Programme for small businesses

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has launched a five-year Energy Industry Support Programme (EISP), which is being co-funded by the Electricity and Water Sector Education and Training Authority (EWSeta). The EISP was launched at the Evolving Electricity Landscape – Opportunities For Investments conference hosted at the CSIR’s premises, in Pretoria, on November 17.
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Stage 4 to continue until further notice, but beware of ‘erratic’ loadshedding changes

Eskom announced on Friday afternoon that the Stage 4 loadshedding it implemented in the early hours of the morning will continue until further notice “Changes in the stages of loadshedding will be more erratic due to the absence of the buffer that is normally provided by the diesel generation capacity between generating unit breakdowns,” the power utility said. Since Friday morning a generating unit each at Kendal and Kriel power stations were taken offline for repairs. There have also been delays in returning to service a unit each at Arnot, Grootvlei, Hendrina and Tutuka power stations. There is 4 887MW out on planned maintenance, while another 15 320MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns
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