Growth drives job creation, skills development

Namibia is undergoing a transformative period in energy development, with significant developments in the traditional and renewable-energy sectors. Recent oil and gas discoveries in the Orange basin, together with green hydrogen and renewable-energy projects, offer strategic opportunities for economic growth, job creation and skills development, says technical recruitment specialist Workforce Staffing Namibia country manager Julien Karambua.
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Africa50 signs agreement to manage International Solar Alliance’s Africa Solar Facility

The International Solar Alliance (ISA) and Africa50 have signed a landmark term sheet laying out the key terms on which Africa50, the pan-African infrastructure investor and asset manager, will manage and implement the Africa Solar Facility (ASF).  The term sheet was signed on the sidelines of the Africa Investment Forum Market Days in Rabat, Morocco.
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SOLA has produced 1bn kilowatt-hours of clean electricity

Renewable energy company SOLA Group has produced one-billion kilowatt-hours of renewable energy, reaching this goal one month earlier than planned. The company produced the majority of this amount over the past few months, says SOLA MD Katherine Persson.
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Eskom outlines ‘aspirational’ generation vision in meeting with lawmakers

Eskom Group CEO Dan Marokane has outlined an “aspirational” and largely unfunded new generation project pipeline to progressively replace its aged and polluting coal fleet. Having previously declared that Eskom had a 22 GW project portfolio, Marokane told members of the Portfolio Committee on Electricity and Energy that the generation division, which is yet to be unbundled, was “working on a pipeline of new clean energy to ensure security of supply in the long term”.
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High Court says State can’t order new coal plants

South Africa’s High Court upheld a legal challenge to the government’s plan to procure 1 500 megawatts of new coal-fired power, ruling that it was unlawful because of the potential impact on public health. Plans for more electricity from the dirtiest fossil fuel in South Africa, which has the most carbon-intensive economy among the Group of 20 nations, violate the constitutional right to health, Judge C.J. van der Westhuizen wrote in a ruling released on Wednesday.
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NTCSA still mulling private participation in grid roll-out but confirms deployment ‘step …

The National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA) has told lawmakers that a “step change” will be needed in the delivery of new grid infrastructure if 14 500 km of new powerlines and 133 000 MVA of additional transformers are to be added to the grid by 2034. However, government and NTCSA were still investigating possible private-sector participation as a “potential alternative delivery mechanism”. This, in addition to its traditional engineer, procure and construction management approach, as well as through the more recently adopted engineer, procurement and construction (EPC) contracting model.
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Germany commits R5.2bn to South Africa and promises to deepen cooperation ahead of Joburg G20

Germany has committed further funding of €276.5-million (about R5.2-billion) to South Africa for the period to 2026 to support several initiatives, including skills development and South Africa’s energy transition. The funding was confirmed in a joint statement released following the 2024 Intergovernmental Negotiations on South African-German Development Cooperation held in Berlin from November 25 to 27, and as South Africa assumed the G20 Presidency.
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Energy transition is accelerating, but fossil fuel emissions to overshoot targets by 50%

While the new climate finance goal of $300-billion a year from developed nations to support developing nations’ energy transition by 2035, and the aim to mobilise an additional $1.3-trillion a year from other finance sources, both agreed to at the twenty-ninth Conference of the Parties (COP29), are positive, they are far below the estimated $3-trillion a year needed to achieve climate goals, said industry analysis and forecasting company BMI. In reviewing the implications of the agreements and delays at COP29, the company pointed out that the $ 300-billion-a-year pledge, when inflation was taken into account, represented only about a doubling of support for climate actions in developing nations.
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South Africa’s third battery bidding round attracts 33 project submissions

A total of 33 bids have been submitted for South Africa’s latest bidding round for 616 MW/2 464 MWh of utility-scale battery storage capacity that is being procured across five pre-selected substation sites in the Free State. A submission deadline for what is the country’s third bid window for the technology was initially set for July 31, but was later revised to November 28.
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DMRE consults on updated IRP for electricity

Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses the intense set of consultations on an updated Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) for electricity held by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy this week; the big themes that have emerged as part of the processing of updating the IRP; the response, thus far, to the updated IRP; and what will happen next.
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