President Cyril Ramaphosa outlined six steps for addressing the country’s electricity shortfall in a Budget Vote speech that was delayed and disrupted by opposition Members of Parliament who objected to the address from proceeding in light of a criminal complaint having been lodged against Ramaphosa in relation to the alleged theft of foreign currency from his Limpopo farm in 2020. Speaking against the backdrop of an intensification of load-shedding, Ramaphosa said government was “seized with the need to get as much new generation capacity on to the grid as possible, as quickly as possible”, confirming Eskom’s estimate that the shortfall could be as large as 6 000 MW.
State-owned power utility Eskom’s actions to rectify major boiler defects at its newly-built Medupi and Kusile power stations is improving the plants’ energy availability factor (EAF), in some cases almost doubling it from when the first boiler’s fires were lit.
The major boiler defects relate mainly to load losses as a result of issues with the boiler’s pulse jet fabric filter (PJFF) plant, gas air heaters and mills.
A new report from government organisation the South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI) on clean coal technologies has presented a case for potential opportunities and challenges associated with adopting these in a roadmap towards 2030. The report constitutes Phase 1 in a roadmap towards providing an overview of the current energy carbon landscape in South Africa, the fossil fuel value chains and a high-level qualitative approach to ranking various technologies, SANEDI explains.
As Eskom consults a range of experts to assess potential solutions for resolving the load-shedding crisis, independent energy analyst Clyde Mallinson has a proposal that he believes will end rotational power cuts in two years without creating stranded assets or increasing tariffs. The proposed solution is based on detailed modelling of the performance of the current system, which a new Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) report shows to be relying increasingly on rotational cuts of between 1 GW and 4 GW to balance supply and demand.
Zimbabwe’s plan to refurbish two idled coal-fired power stations has been thrown into disarray by China’s decision to ban investment in plants burning the dirtiest fossil fuel outside its borders. Zimbabwe was depending on China to help get the Bulawayo Power Station, which has a design capacity of 90 megawatts, and Munyati Power Station, meant to generate 100 megawatts, to produce electricity to fill a chronic shortfall in the southern African country.
Business Unity South Africa (Busa) has welcomed the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (Nersa’s) registration of new electricity generation facilities under the so-called 100 MW reform. “The fact that registration processes for the 16 new generation facilities were processed within 19 days is very encouraging for businesses ready to generate energy and is an indication that business engagements with Nersa are bearing results,” Busa CEO Cas Coovadia says.
BTE Renewables has acquired Sonnedix Solar South Africa, increasing its pan-African renewables operating portfolio to 473 MW across six independent power producers in South Africa and Kenya. Through the transaction, BTE Renewables has secured a 60% interest in the 75 MW Mulilo Sonnedix Prieska solar PV facility, situated in the Northern Cape.
A final decision into Eskom’s nuclear installation site licence (NISL) for its proposed Thyspunt nuclear power station cannot be made, owing to “information gaps and outdated data” relating to the application under consideration by the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR).
Eskom submitted the application for the site in Kouga local municipality in the Eastern Cape, on March 10, 2016.
Any public steps by South Africa that were suggestive of new coal having a place in the country’s future energy mix would be inconsistent with the intentions of the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JET-P) signed at COP26 in November, US Treasury climate counselor John Morton has cautioned. The partnership, which was also signed by France, Germany, the UK and the European Union (EU), includes an offer of $8.5-billion in climate finance to support South Africa’s transition from coal and negotiations are currently under way to convert the offer into an investment plan ahead of COP27, scheduled for Egypt in November.
Eskom warned on Tuesday afternoon of a “very constrained” power system and said it might have to implement load-shedding at short notice. “Should there be any significant breakdowns, load-shedding may be required at short notice, most likely during the evening peak of 17:00 and 22:00,” the utility said in a statement.
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