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RES4Africa, University of Pretoria sign energy transition capacity building agreement

Sustainable energy organisation the Renewable Energy Solutions for Africa Foundation (RES4Africa) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the University of Pretoria to share knowledge, build networks and cooperate on capacity-building initiatives, studies and dissemination of events of mutual interest. The agreement focuses on sharing expertise, capacity-building and coordinated efforts to support the country’s energy transition. The ultimate goal of the partnership is to drive sustainable development for resilient economies in South Africa, RES4Africa says.
May 4, 2023 by

Key energy plan will be developed in a year’s time, says Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa has issued a gazette indicating a key section in law – which will allow the long-awaited Integrated Energy Plan to be developed – will come into effect. This comes after civil society groups lodged a legal application to compel him to do so. Earlier this year, environmental justice group The Green Connection and the South African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute filed an application calling for the Ramaphosa to bring into operation section 6 of the National Energy Act. This section allows for the development of an Integrated Energy Plan, to be overseen by Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe. The IEP is the country’s overarching energy plan, from which others, like the Integrated Resources Plan, should follow. It guides proposed energy projects and deals with the security of supply, the use of economically available energy sources, and the universal accessibility of free basic electricity, among other things.
May 4, 2023 by

AW-Energy, Namibian company sign wave energy technology agreement

Finnish near-shore wave energy technology company AW-Energy has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Kaoko Green Energy Solutions, in Namibia, for the development of renewable energy infrastructure and to produce green hydrogen from renewable energy sources, including wave energy. The initiative will operate in three phases, with Phase 1 entailing detailed site design and the fabrication and deployment of a WaveRoller wave farm on the coast of Swakopmund to deliver renewable power to support in-land resettlement and development.
May 4, 2023 by

Organisations vindicated in battle for development of an Integrated Energy Plan

Environmental organisations the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (Safcei) and The Green Connection (TGC) say they have been vindicated to some extent, after struggling for more than two years to get Section 6 of the National Energy Act (NEA) into operation.

President Cyril Ramaphosa on April 28 gazetted the decision to bring Section 6 of the NEA into operation, effective April 1, 2024, following legal proceedings launched by the environmental organisations in January to review government’s failure or refusal to bring Section 6 into operation.

May 4, 2023 by

GreenCape reports highlight most promising green economy investment opportunities

South African nonprofit organisation GreenCape has released the 2023 edition of its yearly green economy market intelligence reports (MIRs), which highlight the most promising market opportunities in key green economy sectors in South Africa. The reports are published in partnership with the UK’s Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions (PACT) programme, Germany’s Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom and the Western Cape Government Department of Agriculture.
May 4, 2023 by

Investec first participant in initiative to keep Sandton traffic lights working during …

Financial services company Investec has become the first property owner to participate in an initiative spearheaded by the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) and the Sandton Central Management District to ensure traffic lights at major intersections in Sandton Central continue to operate during bouts of loadshedding by using generator power sourced from adjacent building owners. Investec’s participation in the Traffic Signal Secondary Power Initiative will see the company’s generator resources power the traffic lights at two key intersections: Grayston drive and Rivonia road; and Grayston drive and West road south. The roadworks required to connect generator power to these two busy intersections are already under way.
May 3, 2023 by

More than 200 financial institutions are now pursuing coal exclusion policies

More than 200 financial institutions globally, including five South African banks, have established coal exclusion policies, a new report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) shows. These include asset managers and owners with assets under management of more than $50-billion, as well as international banks, insurance and reinsurance companies, export credit agencies, multilateral development banks and development finance institutions with assets exceeding $10-billion.
May 3, 2023 by

South Africa urged to explore co-location of wind and solar to maximise limited grid capacity

Co-locating wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) facilities at a single grid connection point could help maximise the use of South Africa’s existing, albeit constrained, transmission network capacity and would improve supply consistency, Enertrag South Africa project development head Mercia Grimbeek argues. Grimbeek notes that, while solar and wind power plants can be built in the fraction of the time needed to build other thermal power solutions, more connecting points on the grid are required to alleviate pressure, especially in the Northern, Eastern and Western Cape provinces.
May 3, 2023 by

Treasury begins engagements with municipalities on conditions for writing off R57bn debt owed …

The National Treasury is embarking on provincial roadshows to communicate the 14 conditions under which the debt owed to Eskom by municipalities can be written off over the coming three years. As of March 31, Eskom was owed a whopping R57-billion by municipalities and the municipal debt issue has continued to worsen despite several previous attempts to address the problem.
May 3, 2023 by