Black Friday loadshedding triggered by depletion of reserves and heat-wave demand spike

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa attributed the “unwelcome” ramp up in the intensity of loadshedding to Stage 6 to a need for Eskom to rebuild its emergency reserves that had been depleted by the failure of large coal units during the week and a 1 500 MW spike in demand, which was attributed to the heat-wave conditions affecting parts of the country. Eskom implemented Stage 6 loadshedding at midday on November 24, a period that coincided with the yearly Black Friday retail event, during which shoppers flock to malls to take advantage of price specials.
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Karpowership SA secures environmental authorisation for Saldanha Bay project

Karpowership South Africa (SA), the local entity of Turkish company Karpowership, has welcomed the granting of an environmental authorisation (EA) for its Saldanha Bay project by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE). It says this is another step forward for the company to supply power to the South African grid through the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP).
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Loadshedding and port congestion make headlines

Creamer Media editor Terence Creamer discusses the lagging procurement of new electricity generation and addition of crucial grid infrastructure, as well as the dire situation at Transnet’s ports and rail systems.  
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