Meeting global EV targets will be ‘extremely challenging’ owing to raw material shortages

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.
/by

South Africa pushes to delay coal plant closures

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.
/by

Absa Green Deposit investment product for corporates to invest in green assets

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.
/by

Martin Buys appointed Eskom acting CFO

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.
/by

Major player moving to secure power purchase agreements

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.
/by