Ramaphosa to appoint Minister of Electricity as crisis is declared a national disaster

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that he would be appointing a new Minister of Electricity in The Presidency coordinate the response to the electricity crisis, which has now officially been declared a “national disaster” with immediate effect. In his seventh State of the Nation Address on February 9, which was initially disrupted by the Economic Freedom Fighters, the President acknowledged that the country was “in the grips of a profound energy crisis”, which was not only stymying the economic recovery from Covid but also threatening social stability and food security.
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Embedded generation investment a begrudging tonic for the economy

While South Africans lament having to make the grudge purchase of embedded electricity generation capacity, it has been a tonic for the economy in terms of investment, Standard Bank chief economist Goolam Ballim has said. Speaking at Standard Bank’s headquarters, in Johannesburg, on February 9, he added that, with the level of investment in embedded electricity generation, South Africa could add up to 1 GW a year, which would equate to about one level of loadshedding reduction.
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Cape Town allocates extra R87m for electrical maintenance arising from loadshedding

The City of Cape Town Energy Directorate has budgeted an additional R87-million for electrical infrastructure maintenance to deal with loadshedding fall-out and ensure reliable service delivery in this and the next financial year. “Loadshedding continues to hammer city infrastructure that has not been designed for constant loadshedding. Contingency measures are in place, as far as possible,” says City of Cape Town energy MMC Beverly van Reenen.
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Steinmüller Africa celebrates 60 years of growing its African business

Steam generation and high-pressure piping solutions company Steinmüller Africa celebrated 60 years of business in Africa on November 7, 2022.

The company started its presence in South Africa in 1962 with nothing but a post box, which was checked only when the company’s first MD Werner Oehler passed through South Africa en route to Australia from Germany.

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Eskom air pollution puts almost 80 000 lives at risk, study says

Air pollution from coal-fired power plants run by South Africa’s Eskom Holdings risks killing 79 500 people from 2025 until they are due to be shut, according to a study submitted to a government-appointed panel. The research by the Finland-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air assumes that the utility will continue to operate its plants as it does currently, with many of them breaching South African emission standards. The study was cited on Wednesday by the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), a legal organisation representing environmental activist organizations in its submission to a panel on air pollution.
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ArcelorMittal moves ahead with 200 MW Vanderbijl renewables project, studies third-party rail access

ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) expects initial construction work on a 200 MW renewable-energy plant in Vanderbijlpark, Gauteng, to begin during the fourth quarter of 2023, with a feasibility study into the solution nearing completion. CEO Kobus Verster says the project has been necessitated by ongoing unreliable electricity supply and rising tariffs and he anticipates that the investment will begin delivering “meaningful cost reduction benefits by 2024/5”.
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Inclusivity, productive land use and promoting biodiversity all help miners to go green

Major South African mining company Exxaro Resources had based its ambitions regarding the global decarbonisation process on its realisation that its own transition process had to be inclusive, assured the group’s Executive Head: Sustainability, Mongezi Veti. He was participating in a panel discussion at the Investing in African Mining Indaba 2023, in Cape Town, on Wednesday. Exxaro was originally, and remained predominantly, a coal miner, although it was diversifying its portfolio, including …
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Nordex continues to see opportunity in South Africa despite recent headwinds

European wind turbine original equipment manufacturer (OEM) Nordex says South Africa remains a key market despite the disappointment of the country’s most recent renewables bidding round when not a single wind project advanced to preferred-bidder status, owing to grid constraints in the Cape provinces. Nordex Energy South Africa MD Compton Saunders tells Engineering News that the development has prompted a reassessment of the country’s future wind-turbine potential by the company, which has an estimated 32% domestic market share.
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