Ramokgopa sees deal with China to secure solar panel supply

South Africa’s Electricity Minister said he expects to seal a deal with the Chinese government next week that will help solar-power installers in the African nation secure access to panels for projects needed to tackle its energy crisis.

The matter will be discussed on the sidelines of a summit of leaders from the BRICS group of leading emerging-market powers that starts August 22 in Johannesburg, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Thursday.

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Tabling of ERA Bill delayed

Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses the importance of the Electricity Regulation Amendment (ERA) Bill; why the Bill has not yet been tabled in Parliament despite Cabinet having approved its tabling in March; and the implications of this delay.
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Koeberg Unit 1 on track to return to service in early November

Eskom says that the main mechanical work on replacing the steam generators at Koeberg’s Unit 1 has been completed and it will return to service on 3 November.  Koeberg’s Unit 2 will be taken offline on 7 November, slightly later than anticipated two weeks ago, avoiding the problem that both units would be offline simultaneously.
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Eskom making virtual wheeling strides but says national framework still required

Eskom reports that it has made material advances in developing what it calls a ‘virtual wheeling product’ that will allow one or more generators to transact with multiple offtakers, including those supplied by municipal distributors. However, the utility insists that a national wheeling framework is still urgently required so as to standardise the calculation of wheeling charges across all of South Africa’s distributors, with such charges currently varying significantly from distributor to distributor.
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Govt messed up the 9.6GW nuclear project – Mantashe

The 9.6GW nuclear project, under former president Jacob Zuma’s administration, failed because government failed to develop it “systematically” at a “pace and rate” the country could afford, Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has said. The minister was speaking during a webinar about the just transition hosted by the Wits Business School on Thursday.
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Coal crucial for alleviating poverty and loadshedding

Despite the negative impacts that coal-fired power stations have on the environment and local populations, localized energy solutions developer NET Energy owner Mike Blenkinsop has stressed that the detrimental impact of removing coal-fired power capacity from the South African electricity system would also be significant, as many rely on the coal industry for work opportunities.
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Johannesburg starts prepaid meter update before it all goes dark next year

City Power has begun its installation and reset of prepaid electricity meters in Johannesburg before they all stop working next year. The electricity entity began visiting customers in residential homes in Hursthill on Wednesday, with 200 City Power agents targeting 4 000 households daily.
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Urgent electricity bill – key to solving SA’s power crisis – delayed by admin bungle

An urgent piece of legislation that is key to overcoming SA’s energy crisis has yet to be introduced into Parliament, it emerged on Wednesday, raising the fear that it will not be passed this year. The Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill was approved by the Cabinet in March with the promise by Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni that it would be prioritised. 
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Norwegian entities unpack requirements for more investor support in African energy projects

Norwegian entities, as existing investors with more than 3 GW of renewable energy projects in South Africa, are eager to facilitate more business between the two countries and further into the African continent, particularly as South Africa is undertaking regulatory reforms to liberalise its energy market.  In a panel discussion hosted by Oslo-headquartered renewable energy company Scatec on August 15, Norwegian Ambassador to South Africa Gjermund Sæther said South Africa was a leader on the African continent, showing increasing potential for business-to-business cooperation.
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Coal still has role to play despite naysayers, Menar MD tells conference

Resources investment company Menar MD Vuslat Bayoglu has emphasised that South Africa is on the precipice of a significant industrial revolution. Fuelling this revolution, however, will require a consistent and reliable baseload power source that can only be produced by coal-fired power stations, despite calls from more developed countries for South Africa to reduce its coal-fired power station capacity to achieve sustainability and carbon dioxide emission reduction goals, he said on the first day of the Southern African Coal Processing Society International Coal Conference, in Secunda, Mpumalanga, on August 15.
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