Government pursuing every megawatt of generation it can find, says Ramakgopa

It was “inevitable” that South Africa would have to use powerships to help deal with the country’s power supply crisis, Electricity Minister (in the Presidency) Kgosientsho Ramokgopa told delegates in his closing keynote address at the Enlit Africa conference in Cape Town in Thursday afternoon. Loadshedding – scheduled rotating power cuts imposed by State-owned national electricity utility Eskom – was, he said, “the single most important challenge facing us”. Powerships are basically power stations mounted on the hulls of ships, which can be sailed around the world to where they are needed, securely moored, linked to the local grid, generate power and feed it into that grid. He stressed that he was not referring to a specific company that operated such vessels but to the option that powerships provided.
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Outsourced cooling can help market navigate challenges

Refrigeration services provider Energy Partners (EP) Refrigeration GM Dawie Kriel stresses that constraints in the local market offer the company opportunities to provide innovative refrigeration and cooling solutions to help local companies mitigate loadshedding and meet economic challenges. One of the solutions the company provides is cooling as a service (CaaS).
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SAWEA calls for coordinated approach to public procurement programme

To ensure success in the public procurement programme, the South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) has called for a coordinated approach but warns that more work needs to be done.   The inaugural Energy Storage Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (ESIPPPP) conference took place earlier this week, with a bid submission date set for the first week of July.  
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Stage 5 loadshedding to be implemented from 16:00

Power utility Eskom will implement Stage 5 loadshedding from 16:00 this afternoon until 05:00 on Friday. Thereafter, various stages of loadshedding will be implemented over the weekend. Breakdowns have decreased to 16 369 MW of generating capacity, while the generating capacity out of service for planned maintenance is 3 369 MW.
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Makwana hints at possible legal action against De Ruyter

Eskom chairperson Mpho Makwana has indicated that the current board is preparing a possible legal case against former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter for what he describes as “transgressions” arising from De Ruyter’s publication of a tell-all book about his three-year tenure as head of the corruption-afflicted State-owned utility. “It must be noted and placed on record that trust was broken by him [De Ruyter] making those public statements and with the publication of the book, and this trust was broken in the most repulsive manner possible,” Makwana said during a briefing on the winter system outlook, which includes a warning of possible Stage 8 loadshedding.
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Eskom warns of Stage 8 loadshedding this winter but insists risk of blackout is low

Eskom has indicated that Stage 8 loadshedding – representing 16 hours of cuts in a 32-hour cycle – is possible this winter if coal plant breakdowns breach 18 000 MW and demand rises in sync with what is forecast to be a colder winter than was the case in 2022. However, interim CEO Calib Cassim continues to insist that the risk of a total blackout is low.
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South Africa needs oil, gas, nuclear, as well as renewables – Mantashe

Delivering the keynote address at the Enlit Africa conference in Cape Town on Wednesday, South African Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe reported that the current moratorium on the development of the country’s shale gas resources would be lifted. Any subsequent Court challenges would be met. The country would go ahead with the development of its oil and gas resources, despite Court challenges. South Africa needed oil and gas. He was also seeking to revive the State-owned oil company, Petrosa, which had been subjected to “asset-stripping”.
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Gordhan refutes claim that he prompted De Ruyter’s private Eskom investigation

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan tore strips off former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter during his appearance before Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) on Wednesday, dismissing descriptions of De Ruyter as a whistle-blower and suggesting that naming politicians fingered in an unsubstantiated privately funded intelligence report would amount to a smear campaign. The meeting is the fourth to be convened following allegations of serious corruption and sabotage made by De Ruyter during an explosive television interview in February and subsequently also repeated in his book, which was released on May 14.
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Risk of total blackout not keeping me awake at night, says acting Eskom boss

The risk of a total blackout in South Africa is not keeping him awake at night, says Eskom acting CEO Calib Cassim, but rather any upgrade in loadshedding beyond stage six. “One of the biggest questions that I am asked from various stakeholders is whether the country is going to experience a blackout. I have all the confidence…that we’ll never get there.
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Mantashe outlines procurement schedules, including for nuclear, as he confirms IRP delay

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has pulled back from his statement that the release of the revised Integrated Resource Plan, which he has dubbed IRP 2023, is imminent, revealing during his Budget Vote on Tuesday that the draft will be presented to Cabinet only in the second quarter of this financial year. Government’s financial year runs from the start of April to the end of March, implying that the presentation to Cabinet will be made between July and September .
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