Beyond $8.5bn: Rich countries commit more money for SA’s energy transition

South Africa’s R1.5-trillion just energy transition investment plan has been endorsed by the International Partners Group (IPG), which includes UK, US, Germany, France and the EU. The countries which initially pledged $8.5-billion to aid South Africa’s shift from coal, also plan to make available an additional R10-billion, according to a joint statement.  The investment plan – R1.5-trillion over five years – was formally handed over by President Cyril Ramaphosa to the IPG at COP27, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt on Monday. 
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Eskom granted order to attach R1.3bn of Emfuleni’s assets for ‘failure’ to settle debt

Eskom says the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria has granted an order allowing it to attach R1.3-billion of the Emfuleni municipality’s assets for its “continued failure” to settle its accounts and arrears with the power utility. Eskom said on Monday that following the October ruling, it had started taking steps to recover some of the money from the Vaal municipality, including attaching bank accounts and moveable assets
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Stage 2 loadshedding to start from 09:00 

Stage 2 loadshedding will start at 09:00 on Tuesday, and will be implemented until further notice, Eskom has announced.  “This is necessitated by a breakdown of a Duvha generating unit and the delay in returning to service another Duvha unit.
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Court’s order that Nersa must re-determine Eskom’s regulatory asset base has implications …

The Gauteng High Court has set aside the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (Nersa’s) most recent evaluation of Eskom’s regulatory asset base (RAB), a decision that has potential significant implications for a pending tariff determination. The State-owned utility took the regulator’s RAB decision on legal review after Nersa more than halved Eskom’s RAB to R551-billion relative to the R1.25-trillion outlined in its revenue application for the 2022/23 financial year.
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World Bank’s Malpass visits Komati power station after approving JET loan

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan welcomed World Bank president David Malpass to State power utility Eskom’s Komati power station following the bank’s approval of a R9-billion ($497-million) concessional loan to repurpose and repower the coal-fired power station into one which uses renewable energy and storage solutions.

The World Bank earlier this month and at the request of the South African government, announced that it will provide a concessional loan towards South Africa’s just energy transition (JET), of which the Komati project will be the first step.

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DMRE confirms yet another extension for delayed IPP projects

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has confirmed that the deadline for outstanding projects named as preferred bids under both the risk mitigation and bid window five (BW5) of the renewables programme have been given yet another extension beyond the October 31 deadline communicated previously. In response to questions posed by Engineering News regarding the status of the projects and whether the bid bonds had been called, the department said it had received representations from the remaining 22 preferred bidders under BW5, as well as the eight preferred bidders selected under the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP) regarding their readiness to sign the necessary agreements.
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Scatec aligns to green standards on Northern Cape project

Engineers from renewables company Scatec have started work on a large project in the Northern Cape, which forms part of the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP). Once operational, the project will have a total solar capacity of 540 MW and battery storage capacity of 225 MW/ 1 140 MWh, and provide 150 MW of dispatchable power under a 20-year power purchase agreement.
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IAEA says Morocco’s nuclear emergency response capability is solid; suggests refinements

An expert review team of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has reported that Morocco has considerable capability regarding its emergency response and preparedness (EPR) for nuclear emergencies. The team completed its Emergency Preparedness Review (EPREV) mission late last week. The IAEA review mission was sent to Morocco at the invitation of the country’s government. Hosted by the Moroccan Agency for Nuclear and Radiological Safety and Security (abbreviated to AMSSNuR in French), the team was composed of six members, from Canada, New Zealand, Spain, Sudan, the US and the IAEA itself. The mission leader was Health Canada Environmental and Radiation Health Services director-general Brian Ahier.
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Businesses must pay attention to catalytic JETP investment plan – Mavuso

Business Leadership South Africa CEO Busi Mavuso emphasises in her latest newsletter the importance of an investment plan being presented by a South African delegation at COP27 this week, for the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP).

The twenty-seventh Conference of the Parties is being hosted in Egypt from November 6 to 18.

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Accelerating replacement generation rather than 75% EAF should be main Eskom performance measure

Setting a recovery in Eskom’s energy availability factor (EAF) to 75% as a key performance indicator (KPI) for the board and the executive is not only open to manipulation but is also the wrong measure in a context where the undermaintained coal fleet no longer offers the cheapest and quickest way out of loadshedding. In fact, energy analyst Clyde Mallinson, who has done extensive modelling of the coal fleet’s performance using Eskom data, argues that sticking with this KPI will “set Eskom up for failure” and will stymie the transition to an electricity supply industry that is able to provide reliable and affordable power for all South Africans, rather than the current trajectory that points to price and supply “bifurcation”.
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