South Africa joins global ranks of liquid helium production thanks to Renergen project

Natural gas and helium producer Renergen has produced its first liquid helium at its flagship Virginia gas project, in South Africa’s Free State province, making the country the world’s newest producer of liquid helium. The helium module is now operational and being optimised, the company confirmed on January 23.
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Ramaphosa doubles down on Energy Action Plan, but says loadshedding can’t be stopped overnight

President Cyril Ramaphosa has indicated that there is no intention of overhauling the Energy Action Plan he unveiled in July last year, even while acknowledging that “many of the measures in the plan will not be felt in the immediate term” and that loadshedding will, thus, continue. Writing in his weekly newsletter following a week of consultative meetings on the electricity crisis with various social partners and the National Energy Crisis Committee (NECOM), which he chairs, the President said he had used the meetings to underline “the importance of staying the course, instead of coming up with unsustainable short-term solutions”.
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Eskom to apply for enviro exemption to allow for earlier restart of Kusile units

Eskom will approach the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) for an exemption to allow it to temporarily bypass the flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) units at the Kusile power station in an effort to reintroduce 2 160 MW of production, months earlier than would be the case absent such an exemption. Kusile Units 1, 2 and 3 have been out of service since October 23 after the flue duct at Unit 1 failed as a result of the duct bend collapsing, owing to excessive weight of slurry deposited in the flue.
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UAE clean energy firm commits to renewables in Zambia, Angola, Uganda

United Arab Emirates (UAE) clean energy company Masdar has signed agreements with the energy Ministries of Angola, Uganda and Zambia to develop renewable energy projects totalling 5 GW.

The agreements were signed under the umbrella of the Etihad 7 initiative, which was launched by the UAE last year. The initiative is aimed at building 20 GW of renewable energy capacity on the continent and with it supply 100-million people across the continent with clean electricity.

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Data centres can use renewable energy to reduce their carbon-intensity

Data centre operators that buy large amounts of electricity can make huge strides in carbon reduction by embracing renewable energy across their operations and, as they invest in renewable energy procurement for their facilities, they can pass on these benefits to their customers and thus start the development of a clean energy ecosystem, says information management and storage services company Iron Mountain. Encouragingly, customers of corporate colocation data centres are increasingly seeking more sustainable energy supplies, which thanks to recent progress they will be able to access more and more, the company adds.
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Another weekend of loadshedding – but Stage 2 expected on Sunday

Loadshedding will be maintained at Stage 4 for Friday and Saturday evenings from 16:00 – 05:00. It will be lowered to Stage 3 from 05:00 – 16:00 on Saturday and further reduced to Stage 2 on Sunday morning.
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Glimpse into NECOM’s proposed ‘roadmap to end loadshedding’

The National Energy Crisis Committee (NECOM), which is overseeing the implementation of the National Energy Plan announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in July, presented a ‘Roadmap to end Loadshedding’ to various partners and stakeholders this week. The presentation has not been formally released and committee is yet to make a public briefing. It is, thus, possible that the roadmap presented will be adjusted, particularly given intensive recent discussions on the crisis and reports that Ramaphosa had “locked NECOM in a room” this week with an instruction to find solutions.
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City Power runs out of stock to replace vandalised mini substations

City Power is out of stock needed to replenish 14 mini substations that were vandalised in Johannesburg.  The utility has already replaced more than 390 vandalised mini substations in the last year. Roodepoort was the hardest hit with eight incidents, followed by Reuven with four.
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SMEs must be considered in loadshedding solutions independent of their affiliation

The small and medium-sized business (SME) ecosystem must be included in designing solutions to support them against the effects of loadshedding, and the help must be universal and available to SMEs that are not clients of government agencies like the Small Enterprise Development Agency and the Small Enterprise Finance Agency and the other development finance institutions, says SME organisation Small Business Institute CEO John Dludlu. “The SBI is calling on government to provide speedy, effective and tailored support to struggling SMEs, which are being decimated by the new and unending round of loadshedding.
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Rand set for weekly loss on power crisis

The South African rand was on the backfoot on Friday and set for a weekly loss against the dollar, as crippling power cuts continued to heighten economic uncertainty. At 0640 GMT, the rand traded at 17.2700 against the dollar, 0.1% weaker than its previous close and down more than 2% so far this week.
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