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Fuel leak causes fire at Eskom’s Matla power station

A unit at Eskom’s Matla power station in Mpumalanga suffered a fire incident on Wednesday afternoon as a result of a fuel oil leak. According to sources at the power utility, spilled fuel oil ignited and started a fire at the power station’s unit 6 boiler, resulting in damage to electrical cables at the 3 600 MW plant.
December 14, 2022 by

Nersa refuses to concur with determination for 3 GW Eskom gas plant

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has refused to concur with two electricity procurement determinations submitted by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) under Section 34 of the Energy Regulation Act – including one for a 3 000 MW Combined Cycle Gas Technology (CCGT) project that Eskom plans to develop in Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal. Earlier this year, the DMRE submitted three determinations for the regulator’s concurrence, which is required before public procurement can take place, including:
December 14, 2022 by

Phase 2 of Renergen’s Virginia gas project awarded SIP status

Phase 2 of Renergen’s Virginia gas project awarded SIP status Natural gas and helium provider Renergen’s Virginia gas project’s Phase 2 is now a strategic integrated project (SIP) under the Infrastructure Development Act (IDA) and its amendments were Gazetted by Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia De Lille earlier this month.
December 14, 2022 by

Energy Regulator postpones Eskom tariff decision as Christmas Eve deadline looms

The Energy Regulator has postponed deciding on Eskom’s tariffs for 2023/24 and 2024/25 after the Electricity Subcommittee (ELS) of the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) requested more time to finalise its recommendation – this only ten days out from a looming December 24 deadline for the regulator to finalise its decision as stipulated in an order made earlier in the year by the High Court. Eskom’s fifth Multi-Year Price Determination (MYPD5) revenue application, if fully approved, would translate into a 32% hike in its standard tariff on April 1, 2023, followed by a 9.74% increase in 2024/25.
December 14, 2022 by

New JV to build, operate battery recycling facilities in South Africa

US-based recycling platform for battery materials ACE Green Recycling and South African investment business Tabono Investments have signed a term sheet to form a joint venture (JV) to build and operate two environmentally sustainable battery recycling facilities in South Africa.  Through the JV, the companies aim to enact significant change to the management of the country’s battery waste. 
December 14, 2022 by

US researchers achieve unprecedented breakthrough in nuclear fusion

Late on Tuesday, South African time, the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the DOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) confirmed what had been rumoured for the previous couple of days: a huge breakthrough in the field of controlled nuclear fusion research and development. Scientists and engineers of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), in Livermore, in the state of California, had, for the first time ever, achieved fusion ignition (more technically called scientific energy breakeven). In plain English, the NIF experiment produced more energy from a controlled fusion reaction that it used to create that reaction. Hitherto, such outcomes had only been achieved with uncontrolled fusion reactions, that is, with thermonuclear weapons (popularly called hydrogen bombs or H-bombs). The NIF used 2.05 megaJoules (MJ) of energy to trigger a fusion reaction which produced 3.15 MJ of energy output. This happened on December 5.
December 14, 2022 by

Stats SA considers adding self-generated power to data set

South Africa’s statistics agency is considering including self-generated power in its monthly electricity-generation data as more households and businesses reduce their reliance on State-owned utility Eskom. Adding the metric would broaden a key indicator used by economists to compile estimates of gross domestic product at a time when consumers are being forced to find alternative sources of energy because Eskom’s old and poorly maintained plants can’t cope with demand.
December 14, 2022 by

High Court orders DMRE to release records of decision to include new coal power in IRP 2019

In an early victory for CancelCoal applicants, the Pretoria High Court on December 12 ordered Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe to release records relating to the decision to include new coal-fired power in the 2019 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), and to the 2020 Ministerial determination for new coal issued under the IRP. The court has ordered the Minister to release the documents in question and ordered government to pay costs, clearing the way for the main CancelCoal case to proceed, says the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), which represented the environmental applicants in the case, namely the African Climate Alliance, the Vukani Environmental Justice Movement in Action and groundWork.
December 13, 2022 by