Stage 3 loadshedding will be implemented from 16:00 on Friday until midnight. After that, it will be suspended until 16:00 on Saturday. Stage 3 loadshedding will then be implemented again over the evening peak from 16:00 until midnight. This pattern will be repeated until further notice, Eskom said. Breakdowns have reduced to 14 374 MW of generating capacity, while the capacity out of service for planned maintenance has been boosted to 5 003 MW.
South Africa must balance the need to cut emissions with increasing electricity access and developing its natural resources, according to the nation’s energy minister. “We can’t be only about decarbonisation,” Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe said in a televised speech in Johannesburg on Friday. “We must deal with energy poverty.”
Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Build Your Dreams (BYD) has officially launched its battery-powered Atto 3 crossover model EV in the South African market. At a launch event in Melrose Arch on June 29, BYD confirmed that the standard and extended Atto 3 ranges would be sold at a five-year, 100 000 km warranty and service plan.
Three solar photovoltaic (PV) projects bid under the much-delayed fifth bid window (BW5) of South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP), which was implemented in 2021, have advanced to financial close. The Grootfontein projects, which are being developed by Scatec of Norway, have a combined capacity of 273 MW and a combined investment value of R5.1-billion.
Although gravity-based energy storage (GES) as a technology is still in its infancy globally, stakeholders from industry and academia have highlighted its potential in the South African mining industry. Gravity-based systems are being investigated worldwide as an option for the long-term storage of renewable energy, typically using the hydraulic lifting of large rock mass.
Amid an ongoing energy crisis and a global transition towards renewable energy, a significant need for battery energy storage systems (BESSs) has emerged in South Africa as a potential solution to help ease grid constraints. “Consequently, loadshedding has sparked an uptake in demand for BESS in the commercial, industrial, residential and large utility sectors,” says energy management and automation company Schneider Electric cluster automation director Dwibin Thomas.
Global engineering, procurement and operation company USP&E is providing various battery energy storage systems (BESSs) for South Africa to address rolling blackouts amid local energy constraints and an increasing need for renewable-energy deployment. The projects entail deploying advanced battery technologies, coupled with solar and wind power installations, to capture and store excess energy during peak generation periods, and release energy during high-demand periods or when renewable-energy sources are unavailable.
Amid a widening energy generation deficit, brought on by the declining performance of State-owned utility Eskom’s coal fleet, economics consultancy Meridian Economics energy analyst Dr Peter Klein argues that numerous forms of new generation and storage capacity are urgently needed to reduce loadshedding. “As the intensity of loadshedding has escalated, we have moved away from being short of generation capacity for limited periods, to loadshedding throughout the day,” he says.
Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe reports that government is in the process of developing a critical minerals strategy for South Africa, which will seek to support green-economy value chains domestically and abroad. Speaking at the Northern Cape Mining and Energy Investment Conference, Mantashe reported that government was monitoring global developments around critical minerals, which he termed a “new theatre of global economic struggle” to ensure that the strategy supported South Africa’s industrialisation aspirations.
South Africa’s plan to provide its struggling power utility debt relief and potentially write off municipalities’ arrears to Eskom Holdings will ultimately improve liquidity and cut funding risks for the government, according to Moody’s Investors Service. The proposed R254-billion of relief announced in February’s budget is aimed at strengthening Eskom’s balance sheet and covering all interest payments over the next three years, provided it brings in private partners to help operate its plants and the electricity transmission network.
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