As electricity in South Africa transitions to a more open market-driven system, it has many implications for the electricity distribution industry, particularly municipalities, with stakeholders working on a reform roadmap for the distribution industry to ensure municipalities remain financially sustainable. National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) electricity regulation interim executive manager Welile Mkhize noted during an address at the Association of Municipal Electricity Utilities convention on October 21, that many metropolitans and municipalities were facing volumetric risk with electricity revenues given the current structure of their tariffs.
State-owned utility Eskom has urged prepaid electricity customers to recode their meters by November 24, as required by the Standard Transfer Specification Association. After this deadline, meters will no longer accept electricity tokens unless they are updated to Key Revision Number 2.
The South African government is considering far-reaching changes to the way public procurement of independent power producer (IPP) generation capacity is being carried out so as to accelerate deployments in a way that navigates the country’s prevailing grid constraints, while also creating the certainty needed to support green industrialisation. The changes were considered necessary to facilitate the procurement of some 10 GW of additional renewables capacity covered by the Ministerial determinations issue to enable procurement, including capacity available for re-allocation from previous bidding rounds where projects were either not selected or did not advance to construction.
South Africa has the potential to be the strongest producer, user and exporter of coal on the continent, but political interference prevents this from happening, XMP Consulting senior coal analyst Xavier Prevost has said. “We are actually not fulfilling our role the way we should and the reason why is simply because we are blocked by politicians that think they’re doing what’s best, but they’re not,” he told delegates at nonprofit organisation FFF Carbon’s 2024 Middelburg Coal Conference, in Mpumalanga, on October 17.
Renewable-energy group Scatec says it is making final preparations to start construction of the R3-billion Mogobe battery energy storage system (BESS) project, which reached financial close on October 16. The 103 MW/412 MWh project is located near Kathu, in the Northern Cape, and has been awarded a 15-year power purchase agreement under South Africa’s inaugural Battery Energy Storage Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme bid window.
Transitioning to wind and solar is probably one of the greatest mistakes that humanity has ever made, German commodity trading company HMS Bergbau president Dr Lars Schernikau said at nonprofit organisation FFF Carbon’s 2024 Middelburg Coal Conference in Mpumalanga, on October 17. “It’s a very uncomfortable and unpopular thing to say,” he admitted, highlighting numerous often ignored challenges posed by the ongoing energy transition.
Coal and manganese mining group Menar MD Vuslat Bayoğlu has pushed back on a request by Energy and Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa’s special adviser Silas Zimu for domestic coal suppliers to State-owned utility Eskom to lower their prices for the next three years in order for the utility to decrease the tariff increases it has applied for. Speaking at nonprofit organisation FFF Carbon’s 2024 Middelburg Coal Conference in Mpumalanga, on October 17, Bayoğlu acknowledged that there was a need for affordable electricity, but said it was impossible for miners to lower coal prices owing to stringent and expensive new mining safety requirements.
Eskom Group CEO Dan Marokane has announced the first four of what will be seven new executive appointments, which he says are being made to address current business challenges and to support the organisation’s strategic initiatives and growth plans. The appointments are all effective from November 1, and include:
Energy and Electricity Minister Kgosientso Ramokgopa’s special adviser Silas Zimu has implored South African coal producers to temporarily sell coal to State-owned utility Eskom at a reduced price for the next three years to offset the proposed 36.15% electricity price increase for direct Eskom customers. In return, coal suppliers would receive extended contracts with the utility.
Two projects selected as preferred bidders under South Africa’s inaugural Battery Energy Storage Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (BESIPPPP) bidding round have advanced to commercial close and will now enter construction. The projects, named Mogobe BESS and Oasis Mookodi, have a combined capacity of 180 MW/720MWh, and will be connected to transmission substations located near to Kathu in Northern Cape and Vryburg in the North West province respectively.
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