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Eskom debt albatross hangs over South Africa’s plans to stabilise budget

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana faces the task of incorporating a credible debt-relief plan for the stricken state power utility in the national budget while stabilizing government finances as record blackouts weigh on the economy. The minister said in October the state will absorb between one- and two-thirds of Eskom Holdings’ liabilities of about R400-billion. The amount and some of the transfer terms are likely to be announced in his February 22 budget. Nine of 17 economists surveyed by Bloomberg reckon the government can afford to assume half the utility’s loan obligations without compromising efforts to reduce the budget deficit and rein in debt.
February 20, 2023 by

400 MW of immediate interest in Eskom’s short-term power purchase programmes

The National Energy Crisis Committee (NECOM) reports that the initial market response to Eskom’s moves to purchase electricity that is immediately available from entities that generate their own power has been positive, with some 400 MW of interest in both its Standard Offer Programme and its Emergency Generator Programme. Rudi Dicks of the NECOM secretariat reported on Friday that there was still an expectation that the two programmes could secure up to 1 000 MW of additional electricity in the short-term and confirmed that funding for the Standard Offer had been secured through the tariff increase announced by the regulator recently.
February 17, 2023 by

Civil society organisations petition African leaders to reject gas energy strategy

With the thirty-sixth Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Assembly of Heads of State being held in Ethiopia over the weekend of February 18 and 19, civil society organisations (CSOs) have called for the AU to play a more ambitious role in creating a fossil fuel-free energy future in Africa.  CSOs have begun circulating a report titled the ‘Fossil Fuelled Fallacy’ to Heads of State and Ministers attending the AU meeting. The document outlines how expanding gas production in Africa would supposedly undermine almost every element of development, including increasing the risk of stranded assets and expensive energy, encouraging foreign ownership of African resources, creating fewer jobs and causing widespread harm to health and livelihoods. 
February 17, 2023 by

Solar industry organisation urges government to seek counsel from renewables sector

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address has reinforced the need for solar to play a leading role in combating South Africa’s enduring electricity crisis, industry organisation the South African Photovoltaic Industry Association (SAPVIA) asserts. The organisation has welcomed the news that government will further support the rollout of rooftop solar projects.
February 17, 2023 by

UK eyeing hydrogen production with keen interest into electrolysis – WPIC

Platinum investment promoter the World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC) says the launch of the UK’s inaugural Hydrogen Week, demonstrates the growing momentum around the use of hydrogen to help achieve decarbonisation targets in the UK.

The event – taking place from February 13 to 19 in Liverpool, in the UK – comes in the wake of the UK government’s Hydrogen Strategy update to the market report published by the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy in December 2022, in which the government reaffirmed its commitment to developing the UK’s hydrogen economy.

February 17, 2023 by

World’s largest man-made dam weighs using floating solar panels

The authorities in charge of the world’s largest man-made lake are considering using floating solar panels to generate power after plummeting water levels deepened power outages in Zambia and Zimbabwe. Adding photovoltaic capacity to the surface of the Kariba Dam the water would supplement the more than 2 100 MW of hydropower capacity, Munyaradzi Munodawafa, chief executive officer of the Zambezi River Authority, which manages the dam, said in an interview. A similar proposal is being considered for the nearby Batoka Gorge, where another hydro project is being developed, he said.
February 17, 2023 by

Lesufi says Gauteng government ready to migrate poor away from relying on Eskom’s grid

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has said the time has come to help the poor migrate away from relying on national power utility Eskom for their power needs. “The majority of the malls in our province have migrated out of the Eskom grid. Many families have migrated out of the Eskom grid, and many institutions are following. But what about the poor, who can’t afford, who also deserve to be supported? We are ready to migrate them and provide them with the necessary support within the shortest possible time,” he said at the inaugural Gauteng Energy Crisis Response Expo, in Johannesburg, on February 16.
February 16, 2023 by

Minister of Electricity’s ‘undivided attention’ to be on loadshedding crisis

President Cyril Ramaphosa has moved to defend the proposed appointment of a new Minister of Electricity in the Presidency, amid concern that the appointee would have overlapping responsibilities with both the energy and public enterprises ministers that could result in “turf wars”. In his response to the debate on the State of the Nation Address, during which opposition parties slammed the proposed new ministerial post as both unnecessary and expensive, Ramaphosa said the energy crisis required effective coordination across several departments and public entities, which would be provided by the new Minister.
February 16, 2023 by