Germany, France in climate deal loan talks with South Africa

Germany and France are in talks with South Africa’s National Treasury over about €600-million to help it transition away from the use of coal. The loans may form the first part of $8.5 billion in financing offered to the country during last November’s global climate summit. The money will go some way toward addressing the funding needs of the beleaguered national power utility, Eskom Holdings, as it prepares to close down some of its coal-fired plants and re-purpose them for the production of green energy.
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Salga to assist municipalities with energy infrastructure challenge

The South African Local Government Association (Salga) says it is taking decisive action to close the electricity gap and help municipalities take advantage of the policy shift in energy generation, with regulations having changed to allow municipalities to procure power independently to ensure energy security of supply. Several municipalities are already in the process of procuring power independently.
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R20bn Koeberg life-extension cost estimate of 2010 now ‘significantly different’

Eskom has confirmed that the change to the schedule for replacing the six steam generators at the Koeberg nuclear power station, will have an impact on the cost of the life-extension project, which was originally estimated at R20-billion. This confirmation was provided during a joint meeting of the portfolio committees on mineral resources and energy and on public enterprises, convened to deliberate on a complaint made by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) regarding what the union claims to have been the unfair suspension of three senior Koeberg employees.
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Eskom board to be reconstituted, restructured

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has announced that, following the finalisation of an extensive review, the board of State-owned Eskom would soon be reconstituted and restructured. Gordhan has met with members of the Eskom board whose term expired in 2021 and was extended subject to a review and has said that they will be informed of the outcome of the process in due course.
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Mobile green hydrogen platform launched by Rheinmetall

Integrated technology company Rheinmetall launched its newly designed and pilot-phase mobile green hydrogen production and storage platform at the Africa Aerospace and Defence Expo on September 21.

The turnkey and modular solution offered by Rheinmetall group subsidiary Rheinmetall Denel Munition (RDM) in South Africa provides electricity for stationary and mobile infrastructure in civil and industrial settings, as well as for expedition and outdoor applications.

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New book makes development case for raising monthly provision of free electricity to 350 kWh

For South Africa to make real progress towards the goal of universal enabling access to electricity nine-million households should receive 350 kWh of free electricity each month, a new Public Affairs Research Institute publication argues. Titled ‘Hungry for Electricity’, the book’s co-authors, Dr Tracy Ledger and Mahlatse Rampedi, argue that universal access to electricity is the single most important development intervention.
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Eskom to extend daily power cuts until Thursday

South Africa’s struggling State-owned utility Eskom will extend power interruptions on the national grid until Thursday, the company said on Twitter. Stage 3 interruptions, meaning 3 000 MW are removed from the grid, will run from midnight on Sunday to 4 pm Monday and then daily until Thursday.
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Ramaphosa admits there is ‘no quick fix’ to a power crisis that has ‘long history’

Amid intense load-shedding, which has been under way continuously since early September and has at times been implemented at Stage 6, President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned that there is “no quick fix” to the problem, which he says has “a long history”. Writing in his weekly newsletter a week after having cut short a working visit abroad, notably  his participation in the  77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, the President acknowledge widespread public anger, which he described as “wholly justified”.
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IEA launches Cost of Capital Observatory to improve borrowing costs transparency

Intergovernmental organisation the International Energy Agency (IEA) and several partners have launched a new tool, the Cost of Capital Observatory, to track financing costs for energy projects around the world, with the aim of identifying and addressing risks that have impeded vital investment flows to emerging and developing economies. The Cost of Capital Observatory will be hosted on the IEA’s website and regularly updated with new data, analysis and features. The IEA website will also host an interactive Cost of Capital Ddshboard to enable users to dig into data for selected countries.
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Load shedding to be reduced to Stage 4 on Saturday, Stage 3 on Sunday

Load shedding will be reduced to Stage 4 at 05:00 on Saturday morning, Eskom announced on Friday. A further reduction to Stage 3 will be implemented from 05:00 on Sunday until 05:00 on Monday. “The capacity constraints will persist throughout next week, and current indications are that load shedding will be implemented at Stage 3 for most of the week,” Eskom said in a statement. A further update will be published on Sunday afternoon, or as soon as there are any significant changes, the power utility said.
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