Ramaphosa to announce new investment target amid confidence-sapping electricity and freight crises

President Cyril Ramaphosa will outline what actions South Africa is taking to tackle its economically debilitating electricity crisis when he addresses investors at the fifth South African Investment Conference on Thursday, Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya has confirmed. The event will take place amid an intense period of rotational power cuts, with Eskom having declared Stage 5 and 6 loadshedding for Wednesday and Thursday, as well as serious disruptions to the supply of electricity to residents and businesses in parts of Pretoria, including car manufacturer Ford, following the catastrophic collapse of seven power pylons on Sunday night, possibly precipitated by the vandalism of a pylon along the N4 East freeway.
/by

Loadshedding bumped to Stage 6

Stage 6 loadshedding will be rolled out from 16:00, Eskom said on Wednesday afternoon. It will continue until 05:00 on Thursday, when Stage 5 will kick in until 16:00 on Thursday. The pattern will be repeated daily until further notice.
/by

Loadshedding bumped to Stage 6 until further notice

Stage 6 loadshedding will be rolled out from 16:00, Eskom said on Wednesday afternoon. This follows after an update in the morning which stated that loadshedding would be escalated to Stage 5 due to higher than anticipated demand.
/by

Bushveld announces further steps to carve out independent energy storage entity

Integrated primary vanadium producer and energy storage solutions provider Bushveld Minerals has announced that VRFB Holdings (VRFB-H) has entered into a conditional agreement with Garnet Commerce and Mustang Energy, pursuant to which VRFB-H has agreed to acquire Garnet’s 50% interest in Enerox Holdings Limited, which wholly owns Enerox, for $33.17-million in cash and shares. This is the latest in a series of transactions aimed at providing Enerox and its CellCube brand access to the capital markets, the ability to achieve a transparent market value and attract energy-focused investors, Bushveld CEO Fortune Mojapelo said on April 12.
/by

South Africa should not shy away from costs of fixing power crisis – Minister

South Africa should not shy away from spending to fix the country’s power crisis, its electricity minister told Reuters, ahead of a cabinet decision later this month on his proposals to end the worst power blackouts on record. Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, appointed last month to the newly created role, was speaking in an interview less than two months after the National Treasury granted state utility Eskom R254-billion of debt relief over the next three years.
/by