Market hindered by interest rates, economic stagnation

The commercial property market experienced a 5.6% decline in sales activity in the first quarter of 2023, compared with the same quarter in 2022, owing to numerous factors, including rising interest rates and the oversupply of office space, says property valuations custodian South African Institute of Valuers (SAIV) president Dianne de Wet. “I don’t think we’ve seen the full impact of the interest rate increases as this takes time to filter through and I believe that we may see another interest rate increase soon, even if it’s just a 25-basis point increase. There’s also the risk of the decline in vacancy rates being arrested,” notes De Wet.
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Vodacom Century City fire highlights fire safety for PV systems

The fire at the Vodacom building at Century City in Cape Town last month is suspected of having been caused by an issue with the rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) installation, notes ASP Fire CEO Michael van Niekerk, observing that such systems for homes and businesses are increasingly popular as a means of mitigating the impact of ongoing loadshedding. However, he stresses that, for insurance purposes, these systems need to be installed by an accredited installer or electrician. The onus is on home and business owners to ensure that the installation is correct, especially in terms of accompanying generator sets.
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South Africa must build renewables skills pool to catch up with renewable power demands – Nordex

South Africa currently has a shortfall of trained and experienced wind energy technicians, after having lost much of its skilled capacity to advanced international markets and, like its international counterparts, it needs a growing pool of qualified candidates to draw from as demand for new power generation grows. The shortfall is a direct result of the interrupted procurement that has plagued the sector since 2014, says onshore wind turbines manufacturer Nordex Energy South Africa people and culture head Zelrese Brair.
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Alternative funding models for South Africa’s R235bn grid investment outlined in new report

To unlock the estimated R235-billion in investment required to strengthen and expand the grid in a way that positions it to connect the 53 GW of new generation capacity that will be required by the early 2030s, a new consultation paper has been published making the case for South Africa to consider alternative funding models, including off-balance sheet financing. Titled ‘Better Finance, Better Grid’, the paper’s lead authors are Professor Mark Swilling and Erica Johnson, of the Centre for Sustainability Transitions (CST) at Stellenbosch University, and it has been published jointly by CST, the Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies and the Blended Finance Taskforce, with support from the Open Society Foundations.
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Grid expansion is a major opportunity to develop small business capacity, says Stellenbosch …

For South Africa to be energy secure by 2032, it needs to bring 53 GW of electricity into the energy system, which, in turn, requires 14 000 km of new transmission lines to be built in a decade.

The current transmission building capacity, however, is about 400 km/y, Stellenbosch University Centre for Sustainability Transitions junior researcher Alboricah Rathupetsane pointed out this week.

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Novare invests in renewable energy to bolster pan-African sustainability drive

Investment solutions company Novare, which has a substantial property portfolio in Africa, on August 1 announced a significant investment in rooftop photovoltaic (PV) panels as an eco-friendly and renewable energy source to curb carbon emissions across its African property portfolio and strengthen its sustainability drive. The first phase of this solar project focuses on Matola Mall, one of Novare’s retail properties in Mozambique, in collaboration with renewable energy company Enteria Moçambique.
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Eskom slaps conditions on emergency bidders to stop grid hogging

Eskom Holdings =has imposed conditions to access the national grid on 1 850 MW worth of projects in South Africa that developers including Karpowership and Electricite de France SA have struggled to complete since they were awarded in March 2021. The right to access the grid is “conditional based on the projects achieving certain milestones by December 2023,” Eskom said on Wednesday in a response to queries. “This is in line with Eskom’s objective to have projects connect to the grid as soon as possible and to discourage capacity hogging.”
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Presidency, business call for expedited passage during current Parliamentary term of Bill …

Presidency, business call for expedited passage during current Parliamentary term of Bill overhauling electricity market The Presidency and organised business have called for the passage of the Electricity Regulation Amendment (ERA) Bill to be expedited within the sixth Parliament, following a meeting on August 1 to discuss the progress being made under a previously announced partnership to jointly tackle the country’s energy, transport, and crime and corruption crises.
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First new US nuclear power plant in three decades now producing electricity

American electricity utility Georgia Power on Monday announced that the first new nuclear power plant (NPP) built in the US in 30 years, Vogtle 3, had started commercial operation and was supplying electricity to consumers in the US State of Georgia. Vogtle 3 is a Westinghouse AP1000 pressurised water reactor. (Georgia Power is a subsidiary of the Southern Company, a group which holds a number of electricity and gas utilities across the southern US.) Vogtle 3 will have an operational life that will extend late into, and perhaps even to the end of, this century. At any given time, it be able to power approximately 500 000 homes and businesses.
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