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South African business formations make joint appeal for carbon-tax relief

Several organised business formations have outlined six recommendations in a joint position statement on carbon tax, which they argue will improve the carbon tax proposals in the Taxation Laws Amendment Bill and “avert unintended consequences”. Released by the Energy Council of South Africa, Minerals Council South Africa, Business Leadership South Africa, Business Unity South Africa, the South African Petroleum Industry Association and the Energy Intensive Users Group, the joint statement stresses that organised business is supportive of carbon pricing, including the carbon tax, to help decarbonise the economy and facilitate a just transition.
September 13, 2022 by

Cascading problems after Kendal coal conveyor belt broke led to Stage 4

Eskom had to jump to Stage 4 load-shedding on Tuesday morning after a coal conveyor belt broke at Kendal, leading to cascading problems and the failure of three units at the power station.  “In the early hours of this morning a conveyor belt feeding coal into Kendal Power Station failed. To conserve coal, the power output of the generators was reduced, but this required fuel oil to be used to sustain the boiler combustion,” Eskom said in a statement. 
September 13, 2022 by

South Africa close to producing plan for Western climate aid despite hurdles

South African ministers will meet in the coming days to discuss an investment plan for billions of dollars pledged by rich nations for a transition to green energy, aiming to complete it before November’s COP27 climate summit, the environment minister said. At talks in Glasgow last year, the European Union, Britain, France and Germany promised $8.5 billion to help the country kick start a shift from carbon-intensive coal to cleaner energy.
September 13, 2022 by

Absa funds South Africa’s first utility-scale renewable energy captive power project

Financial services provider Absa acted as joint mandated lead arranger and lender for South Africa’s first utility-scale renewable energy captive power project, which will be built in the North West at an estimated cost of about R4.1-billion. The project – comprising of two projects of 100 MW each – is being developed by SOLA Group of South Africa and will supply power to Tronox Holdings’  South African operations, Tronox SA, under a long-term power purchase agreement.
September 13, 2022 by

Nersa corrects gas concurrence notice, says 3 000 MW relates to Eskom Richards Bay request

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has published an erratum to a consultation paper published for public comment on August 25 in relation to it providing concurrence to a Ministerial determination for the procurement of 3 000 MW of gas-fired electricity. The original notice and consultation paper said that the 3 000 MW was based on an allocation for gas/diesel generation outlined in Table 5 of the Integrated Resource Plan of 2019 (IRP2019).
September 13, 2022 by

Eskom gives Koeberg update as load-shedding continues

State-owned utility Eskom will continue to implement load-shedding for the rest of this week, with the potential for the stage to be either increased or decreased on short notice, depending on the units being returned to service or further breakdowns, COO Jan Oberholzer indicated during a briefing on September 12. As previously communicated by the entity, Stage 3 is currently being implemented, and will continue until 05:00 on Tuesday morning. From then, Stage 2 will be implemented for the rest of the week, until midnight on Friday.
September 12, 2022 by

SAWEA welcomes doubling of Bid Window 6 wind allocation, extension of submissions

The South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) welcomes the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy’s (DMRE’s) amendment of its request for proposals (RFP) for Bid Window 6 (BW 6) of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). The amended REIPPPP BW 6 RFP, which was released on July 7, doubled the wind energy allocation to 3 200 MW for the bid window, thereby making up the majority of the increased allocation of 4 200 MW across all technologies.
September 12, 2022 by

R14bn green economy pipeline seen as key to IDC’s ramp-up after investment slump

The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) believes its R14-billion green-economy project pipeline could provide the platform for a strong recovery in investment funding, following a sharp drop over the past two years. The State-owned development finance institution disbursed only R7.2-billion during its 2022 financial year, during which funding approvals rose to R16-billion.
September 12, 2022 by

Overcoming energy crisis requires awareness of global marketplace movements

A global increase in demand for renewable energy solutions is complicating global supply chains and capacity at the same time that South Africa is planning an aggressive ramp-up in its renewable energy plant build rates, says Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busi Mavuso.

She also states that she finds “little solace” in South Africa sharing an energy crisis with many other countries, having experienced Stage 4 load-shedding over the weekend.

September 12, 2022 by