Late last year, residents of Yeoville and Bellevue — crumbling inner city areas of Johannesburg — went without power for four weeks after a 63-year-old cable broke. For several months after, power to the electricity supply was rotated between the two areas in four-hour blocks. Then the cuts were reduced to two hours a day as the city’s ageing infrastructure grappled with overloading. And yet, on July 1 electricity costs for some of South Africa’s poorest people, including in Yeoville and Bellevue, went up as much as 60%.
Deputy Finance Minister David Masondo has called on the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), which is a major lender to local government, to play a leading role in supporting the Government of National Unity’s plan to fix municipalities as part of the second phase of Operation Vulindlela. Addressing the development finance institution’s results presentation, Masondo acknowledged that more reform progress was still required to fully address the supply-side problems of electricity and water supply, freight logistics and costly digital infrastructure, which had been prioritised during the first phase of Operation Vulindlela.
A group of Chinese companies led by China Harbour Engineering Co has won a contract to build a 100 MW solar plant in Botswana, the country’s second utility-scale renewables facility. China Harbour is partnering with China Water and Electric Development Co and local investors for the project which is due to be commissioned in the second quarter of 2026. Zhitong Finance put the value of the contract at $78.3-million. President Mokgweetsi Masisi attended the contract signing Monday in Jwaneng, a diamond mining town 200 km west of the capital, Gaborone.
Cement manufacturer PPC has partnered with renewable-energy project developer Sturdee Energy for the construction and management of two 10 MW solar plants to provide supplemental power for PPC’s Slurry and Dwaalboom facilities in the North West province. The partnership signals a move towards decreasing PPC’s reliance on traditional energy sources.
Golden Arrow Bus Services (GABS) and power utility Eskom have signed a memorandum of cooperation (MOC) which sets out the terms for ongoing engagement related to GABS’ planned introduction of electric buses into the public transport sector. GABS in July signed a deal to acquire 120 electric buses from Chinese automotive powerhouse BYD, following four years of testing.
Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa reports that a new pilot project is being prepared to further “stress test” an initiative aimed at ensuring that municipalities settle their accounts with Eskom in a context where municipal arrear debt has grown to about R78-billion. The initiative is reportedly being supported by the South African Local Government Association (Salga), and has already been piloted in three municipalities, namely the Beyers Naudé local municipality, in the Eastern Cape, as well as at the Kamiesberg and Nama-Khoi municipalities, in the Northern Cape.
South Africa’s plan to expand its power grid, now the biggest bottleneck to replacing coal with renewables, has hit a snag: finding investors to lend the necessary $21-billion to a near-bankrupt state monopoly. Since May’s election brought a coalition government to power, there has been a policy shift favouring renewables, after years of bureaucratic delays and contradictory messages about South Africa’s willingness to give up coal, which provides 80% of its power.
In this article, Africa GreenCo founder and CEO Ana Hajduka writes that, as Africa’s energy sector deregulates, exciting opportunities open up for financial innovation to benefit consumers and private-sector buyers and traders can mitigate default risk and provide certified green energy at lower cost.
Transforming South Africa’s manufacturing sector to embrace green practices is not just an environmental necessity but a strategic imperative to remain competitive on the global stage, writes Nedbank Commercial Banking national manager Amith Singh, adding that immediate action is needed to ensure industry adapts to these changes and thrives in a carbon-neutral future. We need to have a direct discussion about the state of manufacturing in South Africa. The European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is not just on the horizon – it’s quickly approaching and set to fundamentally reshape our industry. The CBAM will impose tariffs on imports based on their carbon content, meaning our goods will face much higher costs unless we drastically cut our carbon footprint. This isn’t just a financial inconvenience; it’s a direct threat to our competitiveness on the global stage.
Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses the role of the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA) in the country’s electricity system; its current trading status; its plans to secure its own allowable revenue during upcoming tariff deliberations; and whether it has the capacity to deliver on the ambitious Transmission Development Plan.
INDUSTRY NEWS
- AfriForum continues fighting Nersa’s latest appeal in municipal tariff matterSeptember 19, 2024 - 5:00 pm
- IBM develops two new models for energy sector forecastingSeptember 19, 2024 - 1:04 pm
- RMB funded renewables projects worth R50bn last year and is gearing up for private grid prospectsSeptember 19, 2024 - 1:04 pm
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