EU carbon border tariffs could knock $16bn off Africa’s yearly GDP

Concern is growing in South Africa and across Africa about the implications of the European Union’s (EU’s) decision to proceed with the implementation of a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) as a way of preventing so-called ‘carbon leakage’ by imposing a tariff on imports equivalent to the carbon prices being paid by European companies. In terms of an agreement reached in December, the CBAM will be implemented later this year and will initially cover the carbon-intensive sectors of iron and steel, cement, fertilisers, aluminium, electricity and hydrogen, as well as some precursors and a limited number of downstream products.
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Global installed hydropower capacity could double by 2050

Installed hydropower capacity could double by 2050 and play a key role in supporting the introduction of more variable renewable power, global industry organisation the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) states in its ‘The Changing Role of Hydropower: Challenges and Opportunities’ report. Hydropower plants offer a range of services to the grid that include balancing and ancillary services, while also enjoying a high capacity factor relative to some other renewable energy sources. These are becoming increasingly important in the context of the energy transition and climate change, the agency states.
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Exxaro receives benchmark ESG rating

Diversified energy company Exxaro reports that its commitment to a just energy transition (JET) has resulted in the organisation becoming the only basic resources company, globally, with an improved environmental, social and governance (ESG) rating of Level 4.

As a result of its actionable commitments towards a JET, FTSE Russell’s Green Revenues data model, designed to measure the revenue exposure of public companies engaged in the transition to the green economy, bestowed a Green Revenues Factor rating of 3.64% on Exxaro for the first time ever.

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Solidarity serves court papers contending State of Disaster over electricity crisis

Trade union Solidarity on February 14, during a media conference, shared details of its litigation about the recent declaration of a State of Disaster over the electricity crisis. The matter is due to be heard in the Pretoria High Court on March 14.
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Mantashe doubles down on characterisation of Electricity Minister as ‘project manager’

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has doubled down on his characterisation of the proposed Minister of Electricity as that of a project manager but has denied that such a portrayal reduces the authority of the appointee. In a speech made in response to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address, in which the President announced that a new Minister of Electricity in The Presidency would be appointed as part of efforts to accelerate the implementation of the Energy Action Plan announced last year to tackle loadshedding, Mantashe argued that a project management approach emphasised “urgency of execution and delivery”.
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Private equity fund launched to replace R12bn Section 12J tax incentive

The Twelve B Green Energy Fund – South Africa’s first private equity fund enabling green energy investors to qualify for South African Revenue Service-approved tax deductions – was launched on February 14.

The fund, regulated by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority, has a mandate to invest in solar panels, inverters and batteries in residential complexes, as well as commercial and industrial installations.

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Salga hopes to play role in alleviating energy crisis

The South African Local Government Association (Salga) has welcomed the declaration of a State of Disaster over the country’s energy crisis, and it hopes to play a central role in the process. In an exclusive interview with Polity following last week’s State of the Nation Address tabled by President Cyril Ramaphosa, Salga president Bheke Stofile said that the energy crisis had always been a disaster for local government.
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Can adding rooftop solar really move the loadshedding needle?

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement that incentives will be introduced to help facilitate solar investments by businesses and households was arguably the high point of a State of the Nation Address, where the declaration of a state of disaster and the appointment of an Electricity Minister stole the headlines. But can such investments really help to reduce loadshedding, which increased by four times last year to about 8.1 TWh and disrupted a total of 3 775 hours across 205 days?
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Cape Town publishes guide for commercial customers selling power to the city

The City of Cape Town has published a guide for commercial customers to sell their excess power back to the city, with the amount of energy that customers can produce limited by the size of their system, which is limited by the size of their connection to the city grid. The city has also published guidelines for residential customers wanting to sell excess power to it, but these will be available later this year, in addition to the existing credit offset against monthly account.
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SAWEA applauds appointment of Electricity Minister

The South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) has voiced its support for President Cyril Ramaphosa’s leadership and firm commitment to fixing South Africa’s electricity crisis, as stated in his State of the Nation Address (SoNA) of February 9.

Of significance, says SAWEA, is Ramaphosa’s plans to appointment a new Electricity Minister, dedicated to ending the prevailing electricity generation deficit, by safeguarding that the Energy Action Plan (EAP) is implemented, to ensure increased new power generation over the next five-year period.

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