Chemicals company BASF global precious metal services senior VP Timothy Ingle told delegates attending the Platinum Group Metals Day, in Johannesburg, earlier this week, that it would be extremely challenging from a raw material perspective to meet the expected global uptake of ten-million electric vehicles (EVs) this year and the goal of reaching 40-million EVs on the road by 2030. Ingle pointed to challenges faced globally with securing base metal supply and, in particular, lithium and class one nickel.
South Africa has told rich countries backing its $8.5-billion energy transition deal that it wants to delay the closure of some units at its coal-fired power plants, people familiar with the situation said. Years of mismanagement and corruption have decimated South Africa’s coal-dependent power sector but connecting the renewable energy units envisaged under its Just Energy Transition Partnership will take longer than expected.
Financial services firm Absa has secured the opening investment in its Absa Green Deposit, which is an investment product that will link funds raised to a ring-fenced portfolio of eligible green assets and provide corporate companies in South Africa with an attractive yield. This initial tranche of funding will be used to finance or re-finance an equivalent amount of renewable energy projects. The initial investment was made by Italian utility local renewable energy subsidiary Enel Green Power South Africa.
State-owned power utility Eskom says group finance GM Martin Buys will serve as acting CFO with immediate effect and until further notice. It says Buys is a seasoned executive who started his career at Eskom in 1987.
As South Africa’s energy crisis continues, global renewable resource company Sappi is actively engaging with independent renewable-energy producers to secure renewable energy as and when it becomes available, through power purchase agreements. Buying renewable energy is one of three investment categories under the company’s South African decarbonisation and/or energy plan.
Onshore wind turbine manufacturer Nordex is participating in a sustainability project, funded by the European Union (EU), to drive the recycling of high-value materials from wind turbine blades. Currently, 85% to 95% of a Nordex wind turbine is recyclable. For many of the materials used, there are established recycling processes for environment-friendly disposal, especially for steel and concrete, which make up the largest share of a wind turbine in the tower and foundation.
Andre de Ruyter, the former CEO of State-owned power utility Eskom Holdings who said the organisation was riddled with corruption, has agreed to appear before the South African parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts and also present a written submission. He will be asked about corruption, theft, maladministration, sabotage, lack of consequence management, cartels and other financial irregularities at Eskom, the committee said in an emailed statement. A date for the meeting hasn’t been set yet.
Deputy President Paul Mashatile is engaging with parliament in the expediating of a number of Bills which are a priority for the country, including the Draft Electricity Amendment Bill. This was according to Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni who briefed the media on the outcomes of the Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday.
Cabinet approved a Bill on electricity regulation designed to clear the path for private generation projects and power trading. State-owned Eskom Holding has provided more than 90% of electricity used by the most industrialized nation on the continent for a century. The Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill outlines an entity to buy power as a step toward establishing a competitive market.
Three major jolts in as many years coupled with the once unthinkable possibility of a power grid collapse have spooked reinsurers in South Africa, spelling an end to cheap coverage in the continent’s most developed insurance market. Insurance premiums are climbing worldwide on the back of rising inflation and interest rate hikes. But reinsurance rates in South Africa are outstripping the global trend – in some cases tripling – as insurers grapple with an unprecedented claims load, six industry executives told Reuters.
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