Electricity sector outlook

Creamer Media’s Chanel de Bruyn speaks to Engineering News Editor Terence Creamer about the difficulties in the South African electricity sector in 2021, the issues that are still facing Eskom, whether there are any signs of hope for the sector this year and what should be done to begin dealing with the country’s energy crisis once and for all.  
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Mantashe on State capture: An attack on deployment is an attack on transformation, democracy

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has warned that the State capture report may launch heavy attacks on deployment – and by extension, transformation and democracy. The minister delivered a keynote address at the gala dinner of the Energy Summit, hosted by the South African Youth Economic Council on Thursday evening. His address focused on the country’s just energy transition, but he also used the opportunity briefly to address the Zondo Commission’s report on State capture.
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IEA sees South Africa’s 100 MW reform offering some short-term supply relief

South Africa’s new policy allowing power plants smaller than 100 MW to connect to the grid for self-consumption and sell power into the grid without applying for a generating licence may help address capacity issues in the short term, the International Energy Agency (IEA) states in a new report. “A number of large industrial customers have already announced plans to build plants to power their own operations in response to this evolution in policy,” the IEA adds in the January edition of its semi-annual ‘Electricity Market Report’.
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Cape Town mayor objects to Eskom’s request for 20.5% tariff hike

Cape Town is asking South African state-owned power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. to withdraw its request for a 20.5% increase in tariffs for 2022/23, saying residents of the country’s second-largest city can’t afford the hike. “That is totally unfordable, unfair and will do profound damage to our economy and families here in Cape Town,” Geordin Hill-Lewis, mayor of Cape Town, said on the Democratic Alliance’s Twitter account. The DA is the country’s opposition party and governs the Western Cape province.
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Suspected cable thief killed in shootout with police at Mpumalanga power station

Three suspected cable thieves have been arrested and one died after a shootout with police in Mpumalanga. Police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala said police were informed that the trio was stealing copper cables at Matla Power Station in Kriel on Wednesday.
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Rand Merchant Bank headline sponsor for Solar Power Africa

Financial services firm Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) has been announced as the headline sponsor for solar power and energy storage industry event Solar Power Africa, which will be held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from February 16 to 18, industry body South African Photovoltaic Industry Association (SAPVIA) said. Organised by events firm Messe Frankfurt in partnership with SAPVIA, Solar Power Africa is a three-day event and attendees will benefit from direct access to expert insights and solutions to a range of challenges, as well as key trends and developments in the renewable energy market.
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Ngonye sun-tracking solar plant in Zambia a pioneer in sub-Saharan Africa

Renewable energy multinational Enel Green Power’s (EGP’s) Ngonye solar plant, in the Lusaka South Multi Facility Economic Zone, is using tracking systems that feature solar photovoltaic (PV) panels to track the movement of the sun throughout the day, capturing sunlight and converting the energy into electricity. EGP highlights that this is the only site in sub-Saharan Africa to use tracking technology from Convert Italia, with the choice to use this made when designated land from the solar farm was not large enough to accommodate the planned infrastructure.
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South African prepaid startup WiSolar plans initial fundraise

WiSolar, a South African startup that sells solar power on a prepaid basis, plans to raise R45-million this quarter in its first funding round as it gears up for growth. The company, founded by Tonye Irims in 2016, plans to expand from offering its product to residential home owners to working with property developers to install decentralised solar-power systems in buildings being constructed. Its current model sees systems installed at properties that are then paid for over as long as 72 months through the prepaid purchase of power.
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Corruption Watch turns focus to Eskom in review of Zondo Commission report

Corruption Watch has released its latest statement sharing findings of the first report released by the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, which identifies the key players who Judge Raymond Zondo believes were embroiled in what he termed a “mastery of undue influence” at State-owned enterprises (SOEs). Corruption Watch this time turned its focus to former Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba, who is alleged to have interfered in Eskom’s business dealings with Gupta-owned TNA Media, despite many protestations to the contrary, when SOEs were under his watch between 2010 and 2014.
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Kenya hit by nationwide blackout after major transmission line breaks

Kenya is experiencing a nationwide power outage after a high voltage transmission line connecting the capital broke, State-controlled utility Kenya Power said on Tuesday. Kenya Power said the blackout occurred after towers supporting a high voltage power line connecting the capital to the Kiambere hydroelectric dam had collapsed.
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