Opinion: Presidential Climate Commission’s electricity recommendations – a reflection from …

In this article, Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) head of policy Lebogang Mulaisi writes that the Presidential Climate Commission’s electricity recommendation signals a potential structural shift in electricity planning for South Africa and what this could mean for labour. According to the Global Change Institute, based at the University of the Witwatersrand, one of the top five risks of climate change is “a badly-handled transition to low-carbon energy.” An unjust transition represents a lost opportunity to democratise ownership within the energy sector.
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Namibia agrees to take up 24% stake in $10bn green hydrogen project

The Namibian government has confirmed that it will take up a 24% equity stake in a $10-billion green hydrogen project being developed in the Tsau //Khaeb National Park, near Lüderitz. Finance Minister Iipumbu Shiimi said the decision to take up the position in the project, the investment value of which is almost equivalent to the country’s gross domestic product, followed on from the finalisation of agreements for the establishment of SDG Namibia One.
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Bushveld announces new CE

Vertically integrated vanadium producer Bushveld Minerals has appointed Craig Coltman to succeed Fortune Mojapelo as CE, with effect from July 1. Coltman has worked for De Beers Consolidated Mines in operational and commercial roles over 32 years. He is also the chairperson of the De Beers Pension Fund.
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Two-thirds of energy transition finance in developing economies to be private – report

Yearly clean energy investments in emerging and developing economies will need to more than triple from $770-billion currently to as much as $2.8-trillion by the early 2030s in order to meet rising energy demand in a way that is aligned with the Paris Agreement, a new international report states. Produce jointly by the International Energy Agency and the International Finance Corporation the study also calculates that a far steeper seven-fold investment increase (from $260-billion to $1.9-trillion yearly) is required once China is excluded from this grouping of countries.
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Small businesses need support as they take heavy strain from loadshedding crisis

Up to 64% of small businesses in South Africa’s townships stop operating when there is loadshedding, about 60% have had to reduce employee numbers to survive and about 7% have permanently shut their businesses as the costs to trade had become unrecoverable. These were some of the findings of a recent study presented during a webinar, titled ‘The Energy Crisis: What is being done to support small businesses?’ hosted by small enterprise institution the Small Business Institute on June 20.
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eLTE private network at Ghana hydropower facility most challenging African project yet for Huawei

The evolved long-term evolution (eLTE) broadband private network that Chinese information and communication technology company Huawei installed for the Bui Power Authority’s (BPA’s) hydropower plant, in northern Ghana, was one of the most challenging industrial private broadband network projects the company has encountered in Africa so far. “It was a good test of our capacity for building broadband private networks in such complex situations,” Huawei corporate communications VP Edison Xie told Engineering News during a site visit of the hydropower plant and related infrastructure last week.
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Netherlands, Denmark to help create $1bn South African hydrogen fund

State-backed firms from the Netherlands will help create a $1-billion green hydrogen fund for investment in South African projects as part of Dutch and Danish investments in renewable energy announced at an event in Pretoria attended by the leaders of the three countries. While the breakdown of investment in the fund wasn’t given, Boitumelo Mosako, the CEO of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), said in an earlier interview that Denmark would be involved.
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Policy gaps, rigid legislation highlighted as key hurdles in just energy transition

Policy gaps and rigid legislation continue to hold back South Africa’s energy transition, according to a new report supported by diversified miner Anglo American and compiled by research organisation Economist Impact titled ‘Powering Progress: Policy shifts and economic frameworks to enable South Africa’s energy transition’. The report noted that the 2019 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) remained the key framework governing the energy landscape. However, the consensus among policy experts is that the strategy is incomplete and outdated.
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16 of TiAuto’s stores complete Phase 1 solar conversion; Phase 2 underway

Sixteen of TiAuto’s retail stores have completed their conversion to solar power, as part of Phase 1 of a project to reduce the group’s dependence on Eskom and to move to renewable energy. The company notes that Phase 2 “is now well-underway”, with the goal of having all TiAuto’s stores running on solar energy within the next three years.
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40 MW Kesses solar PV plant in Kenya now operational

The 40 MW Kesses solar photovoltaic (PV) plant, in Kenya, which was built at a cost of $87-million, is now operational. The plant was developed by Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) company the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF), in partnership with the Standard Bank Group acting through Standard Bank of South Africa Limited, Stanbic Bank Kenya and its project partner Alten Kenya Solarfarms.
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