Author Archive for: Engineering News

With the renewables sector moving beyond proof-of-concept into industrial-scale deployment, South Africa’s leading financiers are playing a pivotal role in translating policy ambition into bankable infrastructure. For Standard Bank Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB), success in scaling up renewable-energy projects hinges on collaboration, disciplined risk allocation and a growing ecosystem of private offtake models reshaping the country’s energy market. South Africa’s renewable-energy landscape continues to evolve as projects under public procurement and private contracting frameworks advance to financial close, says Standard Bank CIB power head Rentia van Tonder. Standard Bank has emerged as one of the leading financiers enabling this shift, combining traditional project-finance rigour with innovative structures tailored to a more liberalised energy environment.

The 75 MW Umoyilanga hybrid project, which combines solar, wind and battery storage technologies across two sites to produce dispatchable electricity, has taken a step closer to its full commercial operations date (COD) with construction completed at the Dassiesridge site in the Eastern Cape. The project, which was one of the winning bidders under South Africa’s troubled Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP) that was overshadowed by the powership bids, is being developed by a consortium involving EDF power solutions and investment company Perpetua Holdings.

The Merafong City local municipality, in Gauteng, has become the third municipality in South Africa to sign a distribution agency agreement (DAA) with State-owned utility Eskom, marking a major structural intervention aimed at stabilising electricity distribution and improving revenue collection in the area. The agreement was formally concluded on December 8, during a signing ceremony at the Merafong Council Chambers attended by municipal manager Dumisani Mabuza, senior executives of Merafong City and senior Eskom leadership led by Gauteng Cluster Organisation GM Bandile Jack.

A new Eskom unbundling strategy, which uncouples the grid assets from the system operator role to be performed by a separate and yet-to-be-established transmission system operator (TSO), has been approved by Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa. Under the strategy, the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA) will continue to own, expand and maintain the national grid and will also remain a subsidiary of Eskom Holdings.

Eskom has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Samancor Chrome and the Glencore–Merafe Chrome Venture in a bid to finalise an electricity tariff solution that prevents the closure of additional smelting capacity, and averts the threat of widespread job cuts in the sector. In a statement, Eskom said a joint task team had been set up to develop the intervention following what the State-owned company described as constructive engagements held on December 5 with Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa and organised labour.