Apollo Africa ramps up electricity trading with balanced, scalable growth strategy

Licensed electricity trader Apollo Africa is ramping up its market entry with a balanced, scalable growth strategy that leverages its position as a trusted intermediary between South Africa’s top-tier independent power producers (IPPs) and a growing portfolio of industrial and commercial customers. Newly appointed interim CEO Ed Cameron reports that Apollo’s role unlocks reliable renewable energy supply for South African businesses through wheeling, while helping both IPPs and customers manage risk.
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Five-year solar power deal comes with zero investment, immediate saving, free upkeep

Lower-cost, free-maintenance, zero-investment rooftop solar electricity is the enticing five-year power purchase agreement (PPA) offer from Sosimple Energy – a diligent entrepreneurial company which already owns and operates more than 75 of solar PV assets across South Africa’s industrial and commercial sectors, and which is targeting five times more. “The customer carries no risk or expense beyond paying for the power they consume. We recover our investment over the term of the agreement,” Sosimple Energy MD Liana Braxton outlines in the attached video interview with Engineering News & Mining Weekly Publishing Editor Martin Creamer.
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Consultancy underscores value of air-quality offsets

Air-quality offsets offer a valuable tool for providing significant improvements in air quality, particularly when direct emission reductions are challenging or unfeasible, highlights global mining consultancy SRK Consulting South Africa chairperson and principal environmental geochemist Vis Reddy. Air quality offset programmes provide industries with an opportunity to counterbalance the impacts of their industrial emissions by reducing air pollution in surrounding communities that are generated from other sources.
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Nersa outlines 11-month process for finalising electricity trading rules

In a belated move, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has announced an 11-month process to set rules for electricity trading, having already licensed ten trading entities, while also preparing to hold hearings on three more licence applications in August. In terms of the timeline presented by the regulator, the intention is to have the rules Gazetted by June next year.
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Lack of collaboration between African nations preventing critical minerals beneficiation capability

A severe lack of economic collaboration between nations is stifling Africa’s critical minerals beneficiation aspirations, expert panel members agreed during the Manufacturing Indaba, in Sandton, on July 16. The panel convened to discuss the challenges standing in the way of unlocking Africa’s critical minerals to power the future of manufacturing on the continent.
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Eskom finalising PPP framework for 5 GW just energy transition pipeline

Eskom reports that repowering projects with a combined capacity of 5 GW are currently under development across six coal power station sites and that it is aiming to implement 2 GW by 2026, mostly through public-private partnerships (PPPs). In a presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Electricity and Energy, the State-owned company said the projects formed part of the repowering component of its Just Energy Transition (JET) strategy, which was also central to “kickstarting” a broader aspiration to introduce 20 GW of clean generation by 2040.
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Monde Bala appointed NTCSA interim CEO while search for permanent head continues

The National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA) has announced that Monde Bala, who has hitherto been group executive at Eskom Distribution, will be seconded to the role of interim CEO from August 1, succeeding Segomoco Scheppers. In a statement, NTCSA said that an “accelerated” process of recruiting and appointing a permanent CEO was also currently under way.
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Solarise Africa commissions 1 MW solar plant for Northern Cape farm

Energy-as-a-service company Solarise Africa has commissioned a 1 MW ground-mounted solar installation at the Zuurgat Farm, near Hopetown, in the Northern Cape, for farming enterprise Genade Boerdery. The newly commissioned solar system comprises 1 976 Longi 550 W solar modules and 8 Huawei 115 kW inverters, and form a robust grid-tied setup that has been designed to maximise reliability and efficiency.
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Eskom insists delayed return of Koeberg Unit 1 won’t increase loadshedding risk

Eskom has announced a delay to the return of Koeberg Unit 1 from another extended maintenance outage, but insists that the risk of loadshedding this winter has not increased as a result. The unit was shut early in the year for the second phase of its long-term operation maintenance programme, which was a requirement of its 20-year life extension granted by the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) for the unit last year.
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Vodacom Business, Ariston & Sensor Networks partner on smart geysers

Vodacom Business, Sensor Networks and Ariston have announced a strategic partnership to bring smart geyser technology to the forefront of South Africa’s efforts to improve stability of the national electricity grid and reduce household energy consumption. This collaboration builds on Vodacom’s nationwide connectivity, which is already powering Sensor Networks’ smart devices in homes across the country, Sensor Network says in a statement.
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