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Distribution crisis requires attention on same ‘scale and intensity’ as generation shortfall

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has described South Africa’s highly fragmented electricity distribution industry as a threat to energy security that warrants attention “on the scale and intensity” that has been given to the country’s generation shortfall in the recent past. Delivering and update on the implementation of the Energy Action Plan in Parliament, Ramokgopa said that a significant number of municipalities were in a state of paralysis and unable to perform their mandated duties, including in the area of electricity distribution.
October 24, 2023 by

Top bond investor slams South Africa bid to fix State firms

Futuregrowth Asset Management, a South African money manager overseeing more than R190-billion of fixed-income assets, says the government’s draft legislation meant to address inefficiencies at state entities is “ineffective, overdue, vague, and contradictory”. The National State Enterprises Bill aims to establish the State Asset Management, a holding company to consolidate the state’s shareholdings. But the draft law does little to address critical failures at the country’s government-owned companies, according to Olga Constantanos, head of credit at Cape Town-based Futuregrowth.
October 24, 2023 by

Ramaphosa says battle against coal syndicates gaining traction

President Cyril Ramaphosa has hailed the efforts by law enforcement agencies and the South African Revenue Service (Sars) to bust coal smuggling syndicates operating in the country. Planned search and seizure operations targeting coal smuggling syndicates have gained traction across five provinces with the documents of individuals alleged to have committed procurement fraud, tax crimes and coal diversion being confiscated.
October 24, 2023 by

‘Height of folly’ to develop overreliance on aged coal plants for future supply

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says attention should shift to adding new and cleaner generation to the loadshedding-prone electricity system, acknowledging that it would be the “height of folly” to rely on significantly extending the life of the breakdown-prone coal stations. While much of his latest briefing on the implementation of the Energy Action Plan was dedicated to improvements in the operating performance of some of Eskom’s coal units, Ramokgopa said there could be no “overreliance” on the units in future. This, given their advanced age and the fact that many trade-focused domestic industries had to decarbonised to remain internationally competitive.
October 23, 2023 by

SA has R660-billion shortfall on its R1.5-trillion just climate transition plan

Despite wealthy nations’ pledged $R8.5-billion (approximately R150-billion) and further pledges and investments, South Africa faces a R660-billion financing shortfall for the just energy transition, expected to cost R1.5-trillion over five years. This was revealed by Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy in a response to a parliamentary question.
October 23, 2023 by

Koeberg: New delay as reactor is prepared for startup

The return of Koeberg’s Unit 1 to commercial service has been delayed by a further 10 days as some critical tests are still to be completed before the reactor is started. The last date that Eskom provided for the return of Unit 1 from the extension of life project was 3 November. It is now expected to be returned around 13 November. Unit 2 will then be taken offline to replace its steam generators. The extension project will give Koeberg a 20-year extension of its licence, which expires in July 2024. 
October 20, 2023 by

Africa needs an energy transition that reflects its reality – Congo, South Sudan Ministers

Africa is largely transitioning “from nothing”, says South Sudan Petroleum Minister Puot Kang Chol. Speaking on Africa’s agenda for the forthcoming COP28 at the African Energy Week held in Cape Town this week, Chol said to “transition means to move – we need to move to energy first before can talk about an energy transition. We need reliable, affordable and accessible energy, no matter where it comes from.”
October 20, 2023 by

Systems in place for recoding of 6.8m prepaid meters ahead of Nov 2024 deadline – Eskom

Eskom insists its systems and strategies are in place to facilitate the seamless operation of the 6.8-million prepaid meters within its distribution areas after November 24 next year – the date by which the meters will no longer be able to accept electricity tokens unless they have been recoded to do so. All Standard Transfer Specification (STS) meters globally, including those in municipal distribution areas in South Africa, are subject to the cut-off deadline. The reason being that the Token Identifier, or TID, range, which is set against a base date of January 1, 1993, will be exhausted by in November 2024 unless reset.
October 19, 2023 by