A plunge in water levels at the world’s largest man-made reservoir, which has left Zambia and Zimbabwe without power for hours, shows why they need to diversify their energy sources, according to a top official. “The over-dependence on hydropower has exposed the vulnerability of the energy mix,” Zambia’s Energy Minister Makozo Chikote said. “This has been a wake-up call that has taught us to start thinking of alternative sources,” he said at an energy summit Monday held in the resort city of Victoria Falls.
The issues of electricity affordability and Eskom’s inefficiencies emerged as recurring themes as the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) kicked off nationwide public hearings in Cape Town on Monday into the utility’s latest revenue application. Through its sixth multiyear price determination (MYPD6) submission, Eskom is requesting an increase in its allowable revenue to R446-billion in 2025/26, R495-billion in 2026/27 and R536-billion in 2027/28.
Industry organisation the South African Photovoltaic Industry Association (SAPVIA) has made a presentation to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Electricity and Energy in which it called for solar investment incentives that offer tax benefits and grants for installations, specifically targeting middle-income households. “We believe a national small-scale embedded generation (SSEG) framework will help standardise system registration and compliance across municipalities,” said SAPVIA CEO Dr Rethabile Melamu.
Technology company IBM and international organisation Sustainable Energy for All have announced new, publicly available AI-powered solutions to enable decision-makers and policymakers to map urbanisation and identify energy and infrastructure needs for communities in developing regions. The announcement took place at the twenty-ninth UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties, which is being held this week in Azerbaijan.
The Department of Electricity and Energy is preparing a report to Cabinet to recommend the approval of lifting the pebble bed modular reactor (PBMR) from care and maintenance to allow South Africa to revive the development of its PBMR capability. “Nuclear is the future and is alive in South Africa. It will play a significant role in the industrialisation and localisation of massive infrastructure development to stimulate economic growth and create high-technology jobs,” Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has said.
Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses the much-anticipated hearings into Eskom’s latest revenue application next week, the hearing date that has been set for Eskom’s retail tariff plan application; and and the likely outcomes of these the MYPD6 and retail tariff plan hearings.
Agence Française de Développement (AFD) has approved another €400-million policy-based loan to support South Africa’s Just Energy Transition (JET), increasing its approvals to €700-million out of the €1-billion it pledged to South Africa at COP26 in Glasgow in 2021. The loan is described as the largest-ever on the AFD’s balance sheet and is said to build on the €300-million public policy loan provided by AFD in 2022.
The head of South Africa’s Independent Power Producer Office (IPPO) has confirmed that it has called the bid bonds for 14 projects that failed to advance to commercial close during the fifth bid window (BW5) of the country’s renewables procurement programme. Bernard Magoro told lawmakers this week that one preferred bidder had agreed to pay the bid bond, but that the other 13 were still the subject of a legal dispute.
Power and water utilities City Power, Johannesburg Water and Rand Water have advised that an emergency power outage will be implemented at the Eikenhof substation from 08:00 to 16:00 on November 17 and that it will impact on the supply of water in parts of Johannesburg. The outage is necessary for City Power to make urgent repairs to and conduct maintenance at the substation, where a recent assessment found defects, including hot connections on the two transformers that supply power to Rand Water.
The Energy Council of South Africa has called for an overhaul of the way government procures new electricity generation and storage capacity from independent power producers (IPPs), describing the current model as outdated. Addressing the Portfolio Committee on Electricity and Energy, CEO James Mackay highlighted the important role that the IPP Office had played in establishing credible procurement processes and in overseeing what was widely regarded globally as a successful programme.
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