Energy industry’s methane emissions near record despite pledges

Global methane emissions from fossil fuels held near a record high last year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its annual ‘Methane Tracker’ report, renewing concerns that governments and industry aren’t doing enough to stem releases of the devastating greenhouse gas. While the analysis highlighted progress in some places, on the whole it suggests global oil, gas and coal producers and governments are falling short of promises to cut methane emissions, directly jeopardizing global efforts to limit climate change. The fossil fuel industry must cut methane emissions 75% by 2030, the IEA said, in order to be on pace for net zero emissions in 2050, which aligns with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
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IPPO confirms May 30 renewables bid deadline as it moves to accommodate grid quotes and curtailment

The Independent Power Producer Office (IPPO) has confirmed that the deadline for submissions under Bid Window Seven (BW7) of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme has been extended by a month to May 30 to accommodate both grid-connection quotes and a curtailment addendum published by Eskom. The IPPO told Engineering News that a briefing note extending the timeline for application for grid cost estimate letters (CELs) to February 15 was issued at the end of January following requests from potential bidders at a bidders’ conference that took place on January 17.
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Tharisa launches its Redox One energy storage business

Integrated resource group Tharisa has launched its Redox One business, which develops long-term energy storage solutions that incorporate the raw materials produced by Tharisa. The company says its solutions use proprietary proven technology developed over decades, including by the National Aeronautics and Space Agency in the US, to deliver a mine-to-megawatt solution at a fraction of the cost of competing technologies.
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South Africa won’t need Electricity Minister by end of 2024

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said an anticipated improvement in electricity supply should see him out of a job by the end of 2024. The country, which has been plagued by crippling power cuts, will get an additional 6 000 megawatts of supply from State sources by the end of the year, Ramokgopa told an infrastructure conference organised by Ninety One Plc in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
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Rapid advancement in quality testing for large PV plants

The latest method of electroluminescence (EL) testing of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels for large plants is a game-changer for business and industry in South Africa, Heather Dugmore writes.
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Eskom mulls integration of Vgbe report recommendations into revised recovery plan but hints at …

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says Eskom’s new CEO, Dan Marokane, will offer a comprehensive outline of a revised generation recovery plan that will seek to integrate recommendations arising from various expert reports into the state of the coal power stations, including the hard-hitting Vgbe report commissioned by the National Treasury. However, Eskom Generation’s Eric Shunmagum also reported “some inaccuracies” with the report’s findings, which required further engagement with the National Treasury before the recommendations could be integrated.
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WBHO’s head office goes green in R20m project

Construction group Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon (WBHO) is installing large-scale solar panel arrays on the rooftops of three buildings of its headquarters in Johannesburg. The first of the three buildings will be fully operational this month, with the other two to follow between the end of April and the beginning of May.
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Metair’s shares rise on expectation of higher earnings

The share price of JSE-listed energy storage and automotive components company Metair rose by more than 26% on March 11, after the company announced that it expected to report earnings a share of 44c to 53c and headline earnings a share of 128c to 140c for the 2023 financial year. This compares with the loss a share of 21c and the headline loss a share of 17c reported for the 2022 financial year.
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Curtailment framework in play for current renewables bidding round, Ramokgopa confirms

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa and the Independent Power Producer Office (IPPO) have both confirmed that the curtailment framework outlined by Eskom in January is immediately available to wind IPPs preparing to bid under Bid Window Seven (BW7) of South Africa’s public renewables procurement programme, launched in December. Published as an addendum to the latest Generation Connection Capacity Assessment (GCCA 2025), the framework states that 3 470 MW of additional grid capacity to connect wind generation will be made available by accepting a “reasonable share of no more than 10% of curtailment”.
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GDP figures cap decade of negative GDP per capita growth – BLSA

While the gross domestic product (GDP) for the fourth quarter of 2023 was 0.1%, growth was negative in terms of GDP per capita, given that population growth is outpacing it. “We have been trending lower since 2013, and have now crowned a decade of negative per capita growth. South Africans now earn, in real terms, on average, what they earned in 2006,” business organisation Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busi Mavuso points out in her latest weekly newsletter.
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