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Neither a new Minister, nor a state of disaster helpful for solving energy crisis

Business organisation Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) says neither the creation of a new post for an Electricity Minister, nor the declaration of a state of disaster, as announced during President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address last week, provide a clear opportunity for business to partner to relieve the energy crisis. “It is extremely difficult for many businesses to make investments in the current environment. Loadshedding is the most obvious challenge,” says BLSA CEO Busi Mavuso.
February 13, 2023 by

UK company to build prototype nuclear fusion energy system on UK government agency site

UK nuclear fusion power company Tokamak Energy and the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA, the government agency responsible for British nuclear fusion energy research and development) have jointly announced that the company is to build its prototype spherical tokamak, designated ST80-HTS, at the UK Fusion Cluster. The UK Fusion Cluster is located on the UKAEA’s Culham Campus, in Oxfordshire, in England. Culham is also the site of the Joint European Torus fusion experiment, which has made major …
February 13, 2023 by

South Africa utility giant seeks permission to pollute more

South Africa’s Eskom, already named as the world’s biggest sulphur dioxide emitter, is seeking approval to release more of the pollutant linked to ailments ranging from asthma to heart attacks. The move is part of an attempt by the company to reduce the level of temporary blackouts the nation is facing as a result of its inability to meet demand.
February 13, 2023 by

Seifsa launches loadshedding impact survey

The Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) is conducting a loadshedding impact assessment to assist the organisation in its advocacy initiatives on energy.

“South Africa’s energy crisis is having devastating consequences for the manufacturing sector. As part of quantifying this impact on the metals and engineering sector, Seifsa is conducting a short survey,” the organisation says.

February 13, 2023 by

Determinations opening way for Eskom to procure emergency and cross-border electricity …

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) is seeking public comment on electricity procurement determinations received from Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe that are intended to open the way for Eskom to procure new emergency and cross-border capacity. Mantashe has granted Eskom an exemption from the Electricity Regulations on New Generation Capacity to proceed with all three procurement programmes, which have been named the cross-border procurement programme, the loadshedding reduction programme and the emergency procurement programme respectively.
February 11, 2023 by

Stage 2 and 3 loadshedding over the weekend

Stage 4 loadshedding will continue from 16:00 on Friday until 05:00 on Saturday morning. It will be downgraded to Stage 3 from 05:00 on Saturday until 05:00 on Sunday, after which it will again be reduced to Stage 2 until 16:00 on Sunday.  Stage 3 will be implemented from 16:00 on Sunday until 05:00 on Monday. 
February 10, 2023 by

Industry reacts to the good and the bad of SoNA 2023

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (SoNA) was delivered amid severe crises across critical economic and social spheres in South Africa, with industry respondents recognising both the good and the bad ideas contained in government’s plans.

Business Unity South Africa (Busa), firstly, expressed concern about the President likening the Covid-19 crisis to that of the energy crisis and saying that the nation will emerge resilient and ever hopeful, when in fact the energy crisis is not a result of natural disaster, but of poor governance and a lack of decisive leadership.

February 10, 2023 by

NECOM secretariat sees State of Disaster yielding procurement, security benefits

The Presidency’s Rudi Dicks, who also heads the National Energy Crisis Committee (NECOM) secretariat, believes the controversial decision to classify the electricity crisis a National State of Disaster will support an acceleration of the implementation of the Energy Action Plan and ensure greater security of electricity assets currently exposed to crime, vandalism and sabotage. Speaking after President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed in his State of the Nation Address that the ‘Impact of the Severe Electricity Supply Constraint’ had been declared a disaster with immediate effect and that an Electricity Minister would be appointed “to assume full responsibility for overseeing all aspects of the electricity crisis response”, Dicks argued in favour of the more “centralised” approach being pursued.
February 10, 2023 by

Company gets UK grant to help develop new-generation pumped hydro system

Tailings dam material could be one of the waste materials that could be used to create high-density fluids (HDF) that would enable a new-generation and much more capable form of pumped hydro-energy storage system. This technology is being developed by UK company RheEnergise, in partnership the Universities of Exeter and of Greenwich, in England. And on Thursday the company announced that it had won a £1-million (roughly R21-million) grant from the UK Government’s Energy Entrepreneurs Fund (EEF) …
February 10, 2023 by