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South Africa’s new grid company could be operational by mid-year if licence and lender …

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has hosted public hearings into an application by the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTC) for the three licences it requires to begin operating as an independent subsidiary of Eskom Holdings, in line with the unbundling “journey” first outlined by the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) in 2019. The vertical separation of the grid company from Eskom is seen as a crucial step for levelling the playing field between Eskom Generation and independent power producers (IPPs), as well as for ensuring that sufficient transmission assets are funded and built to facilitate new generation investment.
April 11, 2023 by

OPEC Fund financing clean cooking energy transition in Madagascar

The OPEC Fund for International Development (OPEC Fund) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) have signed an agreement to provide a $1.5-million in grant funding for technical assistance support for Madagascar’s National Clean Cooking Transition Programme. The two agencies also signed a declaration to reinforce their partnership in promoting the energy transition and securing access to energy. “We are very pleased to expand our cooperation with UNIDO and to support our flagship clean cooking programme in Madagascar with UNIDO’s vast technical and advisory expertise, which is critical for effective implementation,” enthused OPEC Fund director-general Dr Abdulhamid Alkhalifa.
April 11, 2023 by

GIBS to host a Renewable Energy Dialogue on April 20

The Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) will host a Renewable Energy Dialogue to discuss key issues critical to supporting the efforts to end loadshedding in South Africa on its campus in Illovo, Johannesburg, on April 20. The dialogue will focus on unpacking the executive decision, analytics and strategy consultancy Meridian Economics’ report on ‘Resolving the Power Crisis: Insights from 2022’ and unpack the report on resolving the power crisis by adding more renewable energy into the Eskom power grid.
April 11, 2023 by

Loadshedding has led to job shedding for township businesses, report finds

Almost two-thirds of township businesses have been forced to shed jobs because of loadshedding, according to a new report. But business owners say the situation is even direr – they face closing if the power outages continue. According to the Nedbank Insights Report, conducted in partnership with the Township Entrepreneurs Alliance (TEA), 64% of small township businesses cease operations during loadshedding and almost 66% of business owners have cut jobs because of loadshedding.
April 11, 2023 by

‘Strong indications that criminality played a role here’: Tshwane pylon collapse linked to crime

Criminality was the likely cause of the collapse of seven pylons, which supported 132kV powerlines, on the N4 in Pretoria on Sunday night, according to City of Tshwane Mayor Cilliers Brink. “There are now clear indications that at least three of the pylons had been vandalised. So, indeed, there are strong indications that criminality played a role here,” he said in an update on Monday. 
April 11, 2023 by

Spain to invest $2.3bn in South Africa’s energy transition

Spain is providing €2.1-billion ($2.3-billion) to help fund South Africa’s energy transition and water needs, even as some of the world’s richest nations struggle to push forward on a ground-breaking climate-finance initiative with the continent’s most-industrialized country. The Spanish funding is being provided through a mixture of financial instruments, with the country’s government working with its development finance institution, Cofides, and South Africa’s Industrial Development Corp., said Ambassador Raimundo Robredo Rubio.
April 6, 2023 by

Siemens Energy extolls benefits of solar thermal energy and storage solution

Energy development company Siemens Energy on April 6 highlighted the benefits of its new solar thermal energy and storage solution, highlighting the potential it could have to “revolutionise” the way in which energy is produced and used to power society. Outlining the innovation, Siemens Energy project director Dr Ulrich Hueck said solar power exceeds all other energy reserves; therefore, there needs to be a means to make use of it at night, with it having the potential to power the world during the day.
April 6, 2023 by

Anuva Green Energy adds 23 solar projects to its Section 12B portfolio

Tax-leveraged investment specialist Anuva Investments has successfully deployed funds raised through the Anuva Green Energy partnership to conclude the purchase of 23 solar projects, equivalent to 11 MW of power from independent power producer Decentral Energy. The funds have been raised through a tax-leveraged structure and have allowed shareholders to benefit from the investment into Decentral’s solar projects by making use of the South African Revenue Services’ (Sars’) Section 12B tax incentive.
April 6, 2023 by

Coal life-extensions set to be included in options being prepared by Ramokgopa for Cabinet …

The Minister in the Presidency responsible for Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, intends presenting Cabinet with a list of options before the end of April that he says will outline ways to accelerate efforts to tackle growth- and confidence sapping loadshedding. If adopted these could result in changes to the timelines outlined in the Energy Action Plan (EAP), which has been widely consulted with stakeholders and which the Minister has been appointed to implement.
April 6, 2023 by

Swedish energy storage company plans 100% capacity increase for its Cape Town plant

Polarium South Africa, the local subsidiary of Swedish energy storage group Polarium, plans to double the capacity of its Cape Town assembly plant by the end of this year. This was reported at a media briefing on Wednesday. The plant only started production last April and is the result of a $30-million investment in South Africa. The Polarium group has a policy of placing its plants in strategically chosen locations in its various market regions, to minimize transport costs and to minimize carbon emissions. Apart from Sweden and South Africa, it also has plants in Mexico and Vietnam. The South African plant has already assembled some 15 000 lithium-ion batteries, for energy storage applications across Africa.
April 5, 2023 by