The Independent Power Producer (IPP) Office has confirmed it will soon launch a bid window round for 513 MW of battery storage capacity and hopes to procure another 1 200 MW later this year. IPP Office head Bernard Magoro confirmed during a webinar hosted by Creamer Media and titled ‘South Africa’s Energy Outlook for 2023’, that the country could see a total 1 700 MW of battery storage procured in 2023.
Energy services provider Expro has entered into a long-term production solutions contract with Eni Congo, a subsidiary of multinational energy company Eni, for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) pretreatment facility in the Republic of Congo. The ten-year contract is expected to generate more than $300-million of revenue for Expro.
The portfolio committees on Public Enterprises, and Mineral Resources and Energy and the Select Committee on Public Enterprises and Communication will, on Thursday and Friday, meet various Eskom stakeholders to assess efforts to resolve the crippling energy crisis facing the country. Eskom announced earlier this week that loadshedding will remain at Stage 4 from 16:00 to 05:00 every day, with Stage 3 implemented from 05:00 to 16:00 during the day until further notice.   The committees felt that constant loadshedding was adverse impacting the country and exacerbating its socioeconomic challenges. The meeting will address the security of electricity supply, the operational state of all power stations and governance at Eskom. Solutions to the current loadshedding, as well as alleged sabotage and theft at power stations, will also be addressed at the meeting.
The City of Tshwane (CoT) has been coming up short on its payments to Eskom for several months and it owes the State-owned power utility R1.4-billion as of January 25.

Eskom has announced that CoT short-paid its November 2022 bill of R660-million and failed to pay its December 2022 account of R780-million entirely.

Airforce Base Makhado, in Limpopo, now has solar geysers designed to reduce the damage of  limescale build-up and the amount of electricity used to heat water in domestic housing. Piloted as one of the projects implemented through a five-year partnership between the South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI) and the military, this installation is part of ongoing research to ensure sustainable energy, as well as quantify energy, cost and emissions savings through energy efficient and renewable energy interventions.