Civil society groups appeal Kusile’s pollution exemption

Civil society groups have lodged their appeal against a decision granting Eskom a temporary exemption to bypass pollution controls at Kusile. The exemption allows Eskom to run Kusile without flue gas desulphurisation (FGD), which is required to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions.
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Loadshedding on the horizon for the weekend as repairs delayed accreditation

Varying stages of loadshedding will be implemented from Friday until Monday morning, Eskom said in a statement on Thursday.  Stage 1 loadshedding will remain in place until 16:00 on Thursday, followed by Stage 3 until midnight. Power cuts will then be suspended until 05:00 on Friday, after which the pattern will be repeated on Friday and Saturday. 
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Mining, refining, smelting investment of up to $4tr by 2030 needed to support net-zero shift …

As the world accelerates the deployment of climate technologies in support of the net-zero transition, there is a risk that materials supply might not scale at the required speed, a new McKinsey & Company report warns. To meet demand for minerals and metals used in battery electric vehicles (BEVs), wind turbines, solar panels and electrolysers, the report states that mining project development would need to far exceed historical growth rates, while the pace of exploration would also have to accelerate.
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Eskom’s approved plan to bypass pollution rules hit by appeal

Environmental activists have appealed against a South African government decision to allow Eskom Holdings to bypass equipment used to reduce sulphur dioxide pollution while it repairs one of its biggest coal-fired power plants. The appeal has been filed to the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment by groundWork and the Vukani Environmental Justice Movement in Action, according to court documents distributed by the Centre for Environmental Rights, the lawyers representing the groups, on Thursday.
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Opinion: Embracing renewable energy – a catalyst for sustainable mining

In this article, JUWI Renewables South Africa MD Richard Doyle shares insights from a recent Africa Energy Forum panel discussion during which experts from the renewable energy and mining sectors explored ways to overcome challenges to and accelerate the adoption of renewable energy in mining.
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Grid storage uptake in South Africa lacks ‘direction or momentum’

A new report published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) highlights that grid storage has yet to gain “direction or momentum” in South Africa, despite a growing recognition of the role that both utility scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) and other storage technologies can play in providing electricity services besides that of complementing renewables. Titled ‘Watts in Store’, the report distinguishes between grid or front-of-the-meter storage and consumer storage, with behind-the-meter energy storage having expanded significantly as firms and households have sought to protect themselves from intensifying loadshedding. Industry estimates quoted in the report indicate that, by 2022, yearly residential storage deployments alone had jumped to about 2 GWh.
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UN seeks to help developing countries access more funds for renewables investment

The world’s least developed countries rely on external sources for almost three-quarters of their energy investment but may pay up to seven times more than developed countries to access international capital markets, which is a major impediment to ramping up investments in renewables, United Nations secretary-general António Guterres says.  With the release of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s (Unctad’s) ‘World Investment Report 2023’, on July 5, he has called for a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) stimulus, among other things, to increase long-term and affordable financing for developing countries “to enable them to invest at scale in the transition to renewable energy”.  
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Power trips at Rand Water an Eskom issue, says entity’s chief as water woes continue

Water outages in Johannesburg and Tshwane are a result of loadshedding, says Teboho Joala, Rand Water’s chief shared services officer and acting managing director. On Sunday, the municipalities warned residents there were still issues in some areas because of power outages which hit Rand Water in June
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Updated loadshedding code includes up to 16 stages to reduce grid-collapse risk

A new and updated edition of the loadshedding code of practice, which includes up to 16 stages of loadshedding, has been finalised by and expert group and delivered to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) for approval. The current NRS 048-9 edition, known as Edition 2, has protocols governing up to eight stages of loadshedding, which would involve rotational cuts of up to 16 hours in a 32-hour cycle. Edition 3 has increased the number of stages to 16, with the highest stage involving 24 hours of loadshedding in a 32-hour cycle.
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Eskom to implement Stages 1 and 3 loadshedding on Wednesday and Thursday

Power utility Eskom will implement Stage 1 loadshedding from 05:00 to 16:00 and Stage 3 loadshedding from 16:00 to midnight on Wednesday and Thursday. Stage 3 loadshedding will also be implemented from 16:00 to midnight on Tuesday.
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