South Africa has made significant progress in boosting its renewable-energy sector; however, several issues need to be addressed to facilitate the country’s transition away from coal-dominated electricity supply while maintaining energy security and economic stability, says independent power producer (IPP) ENGIE South Africa business development head Léa Giroux. South Africa remains heavily reliant on coal, which currently generates about 80% of the country’s electricity, although the many coal-fired power stations are ageing and becoming increasingly unreliable. This unreliability, and the environmental challenges associated with coal-fired power stations, make a diversified energy mix essential.
Industry association Energy Council of South Africa is confident that South Africa will remain out of sustained loadshedding for the next three to four years, owing to the rapid growth in electricity generation. However, risks remain, particularly State-owned utility Eskom’s fleet reliability and any “catastrophic failures” as have been seen in the past.
With increasing pressure being placed on South Africa’s municipal dumps amid growing waste generation, promoting a circular economy could provide valuable solutions while potentially creating new business opportunities. Although South Africa has relevant policies in place regarding circularity – such as the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Regulations, which require producers to take responsibility for their packaging waste throughout its life cycle – policy coherence and accountability are needed to ensure successful implementation.
he US is stalling the distribution of $2.6-billion in climate finance to South Africa, stoking concerns the money might be blocked outright, people familiar with the situation said. At a meeting earlier this month, US representatives prevented the World Bank-linked Climate Investment Funds from approving a $500-million disbursement to South Africa, two of the people said, asking not to be identified because a public announcement hasn’t been made on the matter.
Power utility Eskom implemented Stage 2 loadshedding from 18:25 on March 19, stating that it would remain in effect until 05:00 on March 20. This followed the loss of five generation units before the evening peak period.
Eskom has acknowledged that there will be differentiated tariff impacts for various categories of electricity customers following the regulator’s approval of a new retail tariff plan (RTP) for implementation on April 1, alongside the 12.74% tariff increase approved for the 2025/26 financial year. Eskom regulation GM Hasha Tlhotlhalemaje has described the restructuring associated with the RTP as a necessary “shock”, as it begins aligning Eskom’s tariff structure with underlying system costs and changes to the electricity supply industry, while removing unintended cross-subsidies.
Cape Town Stock Exchange-listed Gaia Renewables 1, has acquired an interest in three renewable-energy plants from the IDEAS Renewable Energy Fund, which is managed by African Infrastructure Investment Managers. The deal, initially funded with debt and equity, will see the fund gaining a 10% holding in each of the Linde and Kalkbult solar PV plants, in the Northern Cape, as well as a 21% stake in the Jeffreys Bay Wind Farm, in the Eastern Cape.
Research institution the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and French public agency Agence Française de Développement (AFD) on March 12 hosted a dissemination workshop to share the findings of the study titled ‘Value chain analysis for identification of opportunities for enterprise development’. This collaboration included a study examining the localisation potential and enterprise development opportunities for solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery storage value chains.
A 75 MW solar PV project being developed near De Aar in the Northern Cape to supply an energy aggregator has advanced to financial close. The Du Plessis Dam Solar PV2 facility is being built by independent power producer (IPP) Mulilo in partnership with H1 Capital to supply about 248 GWh yearly to energy trader Etana Energy.
Demand for electricity in South Africa continued to trend down in 2024, a new Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) report confirms. It shows that peak demand was a per cent lower year-on-year at 33.5 GW (33.9 GW), while energy demand was three per cent lower at 219.6 TWh (225.9 TWh).
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