Limited nature of Electricity Minister’s new powers confirmed by Presidency

The Presidency insists that the transfer of responsibility for Section 34(1) of the Electricity Regulation Act to Electricity Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa “provides the Minister with a powerful tool to address South Africa’s current energy shortfall, by directing the actions that are required to build new generation capacity”. However, it has also confirmed that these powers effectively enable him only to issue a determination that new generation capacity is needed in order to ensure security of energy supply.

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SAFCEI critical of govt’s new nuclear procurement plans

Multifaith environmental justice organisation, South African Faith Communities Environment Institute (SAFCEI), has decried the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy’s (DMRE’s) plans to procure more nuclear power as a step in the wrong direction. The organisation has cited the long build times and lengthy over-runs as ineffective in urgently dealing with the energy crisis the country is facing.
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Johannesburg makes loadshedding changes, to exempt key businesses

In an effort to ensure businesses remain invested in South Africa’s biggest city, the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) has announced that it will offer some key customers, essential services and businesses a loadshedding reprieve.

The CoJ will in a gradual manner, from early June, exclude certain customers – network configurations permitting.

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President transfers powers to procure new electricity generation from Mantashe to Ramokgopa

Following more than two months of uncertainty and reported Cabinet infighting, President Cyril Ramaphosa has transferred the Ministerial powers relating to the procurement of new electricity generation to Electricity Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa. Until now Ramakgopa has had no formal Ministerial powers, despite having been appointed on March 7 and despite the President having indicated that he intended using Section 97 of the Constitution to grant such powers.
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Property owners view rapid solar roll-out as key to navigating loadshedding crisis

As the energy crisis in the country incrementally worsens, the ramifications are considerable for property owners, who are having to resort to various options to limit the impact of prolonged periods of outages, future-proof their assets and ensure business continuity. However, this is not enough to contain the fallout, and property owners are also calling for efforts to be bolstered, through other solutions, to resolve the energy challenges.
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Patel outlines ‘step change’ investment, export and jobs targets for 2023/24

Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel outlined firm investment, localisation, export and manufacturing jobs targets in his 2023/24 Budget Vote address to Parliament this week. In a speech prefaced by what the Minister described as a world in in the midst of ‘polycrisis’, or the simultaneous occurrence of several catastrophic events, Patel said his department’s central mission was to build a more resilient economy that was able to grow and transform “despite extraordinary headwinds and challenges”.
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Renewables alone will not solve energy crisis – NUMSA

The belief that renewable energy is the sole answer to South Africa’s energy crisis is irrational, National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) general secretary Irvin Jim has said.

“You can’t run a factory by wind or sun. What happens when there is no wind and the sun is behind a cloud? It is like lying to children by telling them you can do a braai with a torch,” he quipped to delegates attending the Metal Industries Collective Bargaining Summit in Johannesburg on May 25.

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At $1bn a day, solar investment to outpace oil for first time in 2023

The International Energy Agency (IEA) is forecasting that investment in solar will rise to more than $1-billion a day, or to some $380-billion for 2023 as a whole, increasing spending on the renewable technology to above upstream oil for the first time ever. The agency’s World Energy Investment also indicates that more than $1.7-trillion of the $2.8-trillion to be invested in energy globally this year, will be directed towards clean technologies, including renewables, electric vehicles, nuclear, grids, storage, low-emission fuels, efficiency improvements and heat pumps.
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Namibia signs agreement opening way for feasibility study of $10bn green ammonia project

Namibia has taken another step towards the creation of a green hydrogen industry, after President Hage Geingob’s Cabinet agreed this week to sign a feasibility and implementation agreement (FIA) with Hyphen Hydrogen Energy for a $10-billion project to produce two-million tonnes of green ammonia yearly by 2029. Hyphen, which is a Namibian-registered joint venture between Nicholas Holdings Limited and Enertrag, was awarded preferred-bidder status on the project, earmarked for development on some 4 000 km2 of land within the Tsau //Khaeb National Park, near Lüderitz, in November 2021.
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To unlock scarce grid capacity South Africa begins rethinking approach to curtailment

With insufficient grid capacity having been identified as the main constraint to the public procurement of the 28 GW of new electricity capacity allowed for by 2030 under various Ministerial determinations, IPP Office head Bernard Magoro reports that several new options are being considered to unlock existing grid capacity, including accepting some level of curtailment. Addressing the South African National Energy Association’s annual general meeting, Magoro reported that a cost-benefit analysis would be undertaken into whether curtailment should be factored into to future procurement rounds so as to unlock grid capacity, while additional transmission lines and substations are developed in parallel.
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