The head of energy at the South African Local Government Association (Salga) has called for a review of both the size of the free basic electricity (FBE) allocation as well as the way the grant is assigned, arguing that many indigent households are currently not benefiting from the scheme as intended. Speaking during a roundtable discussion on South Africa’s electrification programme as part of government’s ongoing activities to mark 30 years of democracy, Nhlanhla Ngidi described the current monthly allocation of 50 kWh as “minute” and well below the 300 kWh to 400 kWh that poor households were typically consuming.
ASX-listed Kinetiko Energy has successfully demonstrated that it can produce gas-to-power (GtP) from an onshore natural gas resource at its Amersfoort project, in Mpumalanga, South Africa. The company is focused on developing an energy transition solution for South Africa focused on commercialising advanced shallow conventional gas projects in the country’s Mpumalanga, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal provinces.