Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe still believes loadshedding could be over by the end of the year if emergency power procurement through Karpowership, along with other measures, are taken “seriously”. The minister said in an interview with Talk Radio 702’s Clement Manyathela on Tuesday morning that by rejecting Karpowership, “Eskom must not pretend to be having electricity when it does not”. “Loadshedding can be attended to effectively and be reduced – almost eliminated if we focus on the right things,” Mantashe said, explaining that these measures involve re-looking at Karpowership, improving the energy availability factor of stations, and importing energy from neighbouring countries. Earlier this year, in an interview with eNCA, Mantashe said that loadshedding could be addressed in six to 12 months. At Davos this year, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana similarly said it would take 12 to 18 months to say “loadshedding is a thing of the past”. After his comments on Tuesday, Manyathela confronted Mantashe with comments by Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa that ending loadshedding soon was not technically possible.
German mine owners Geiger Group have contracted gravity energy storage specialist Gravitricity to investigate the potential of storing energy at a decommissioned mine.
The decommissioned shafts of the Grube Teutschenthal mine is based near Halle, about 150 km southwest of Berlin, and used to produce potash and rock salt.
A parliamentary committee will not oversee Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa as his ministry won’t have its own budget, the National Assembly Rules Committee has decided. On Tuesday morning, the rules committee dealt with the establishment of new ministries in the Presidency and whether portfolio committees should be established to oversee them.
Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa proposed a “mega bid window” for the procurement of renewable energy to curb rolling blackouts, even as previous plans to build clean power generation have been delayed. Ramokgopa recommended buying a minimum of 15 000 MW of energy, in addition to other measures that go beyond a seventh round of auctions for renewable-power supply that’s already planned. The proposal is evidence of the country’s commitment to green power, the minister said at a solar-energy conference in Johannesburg on Tuesday, even as he pushes to extend the life of coal-fired electricity plants.
South Africa’s electricity minister proposed a plan to stave off deeper power cuts by increasing the use of diesel turbines along with building more storage capacity to store the fuel. State-owned utility Eskom Holdings will need to increase its budget for diesel, Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said, according to a copy of a presentation seen by Bloomberg. A special dispensation could reduce the cost by allowing Eskom to directly purchase the fuel, the plan showed.
It was meant to be the climate justice blueprint, the deal that showed how rich countries could help developing economies end their reliance on coal and go green. Almost 18 months on, South Africa’s $8.5 billion transition showpiece looks more like a cautionary tale. Only one coal-fired power plant has been closed since the so-called Just Energy Transition Partnership was unveiled to great fanfare at the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow. Now, some South African politicians are pushing to keep others open longer than planned — potentially for years — as the country struggles to end daily blackouts that are angering voters and turning off foreign investors.
Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has published an explanatory summary of the much-anticipated Electricity Regulation Act Amendment Bill, which is now poised to be introduced to the National Assembly for consideration. In his introductory note to the summary Mantashe sets out the purpose of the proposed amendments to be the following:
Shenzhen Stock Exchange-listed inverter manufacturer Ginlong Solis Technologies will launch its S6 Advanced Power Hybrid Inverter for South Africa at the Solar Show Africa, being held in Johannesburg on April 25 and 26. The inverters have added generator connections and control functions, and each works as a fully independent power centre to meet the needs of the South African market for residential and commercial and industrial projects, where power outages have become a daily occurrence, the company says.
The National Energy Crisis Committee (NECOM), set up under the Presidency, has brought together the best people and put together a plan that has the best chance of resolving the country’s greatest economic challenge – the electricity crisis, states Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busi Mavuso. Business has backed that plan, going so far as to raise R100-million to pay for the technical skills needed for its implementation, she points out in her latest weekly newsletter.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has denied that the current process of re-examining the timeframes for the closure of coal power stations represents a reversal of the country’s position on the just energy transition. In his weekly newsletter, the President argued that any decision on decommissioning will be informed by a detailed technical assessment of the feasibility of continuing to operate older plants.
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