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More finance needed for Africa’s energy transition opportunities

Africa’s transition to cleaner fuels and power generation presents investors with opportunities across the value chain, but more direct financing is needed on projects, the head of a South African independent power producer, said on Thursday. Brian Dames, chief executive officer of African Rainbow Energy & Power, said the shift to cleaner energy in South Africa for example, meant a massive addition of new generation capacity with strong growth potential.
December 1, 2022 by

City Power deploys electricians to stabilise power grid

Electricity utility City Power on December 1 deployed 52 newly appointed electricians to lessen its reliance on contractors and foster area-specific accountability in the Johannesburg power network. The electricians will be posted in problem-prone sections of the City Power network and assume direct responsibility for sections of the grid.
December 1, 2022 by

More Eskom arrests as coal truck driver, supervisor apprehended at Matla station

A truck driver and his supervisor were arrested for allegedly swapping out good-quality coal, and delivering sub-standard product to Eskom’s Matla power station on Monday. “The arrests took place after the truck driver was found to be in possession of sub-grade coal destined for the facility. The coal swapping allegedly took place at a known illegal coal yard in the Mpumalanga area, prior to the delivery being made at the Matla power station,” Eskom said on Wednesday.
November 30, 2022 by

Six-month ban imposed on export of copper scrap as South Africa seeks to combat theft

The South African government has imposed a six-month ban on the export of copper and copper-alloy scrap, as well as most ferrous scrap as part of the first phase of a three-phase intervention designed to combat the rampant theft of metals used in public infrastructure. The economic damage of ongoing theft and vandalism has been estimated at R47-billion and has amplified both loadshedding and the disruption of freight and passenger rail services.
November 30, 2022 by

African battery pioneer Freedom Won riding loadshedding-fuelled growth wave

South African battery storage pioneer Freedom Won, which is on a rapid, loadshedding-fuelled expansion path, is ramping up production at its newly expanded 15 000 m2 factory in Honeydew, Gauteng, to exceed the current production of 50 MWh of batteries every month – enough energy storage to support around 5 000 South African households in combination with solar power. The latest expansion, which is unlikely to be its last, forms part of an ongoing upscaling of the enterprise that belies its humble beginnings in 2009, when cofounders Antony English and Lizette Kriel decided to establish a company with some initial funding support from family members.
November 30, 2022 by

Public, private sectors must pursue sustainable options to plug energy deficit – PwC

Professional services firm PwC South Africa’s eleventh and final South Africa Economic Outlook report for the year, coming in the wake of the twenty-seventh Conference of the Parties (COP27), focuses on opportunities and actions to improve power supply and energy sustainability in the country. Earlier this month, some PwC Africa leaders attended COP27 in Egypt and observed that providing clear evidence of decarbonisation is a powerful differentiator for organisations in an environment where having such targets is merely a licence to operate.
November 29, 2022 by

South Africa faces decade of blackouts without gas, Wartsila says

Wartsila Oyj, a Finnish company that makes power plants, expects South Africa to face electricity outages for at least another decade unless it installs as much as $8 billion worth of gas-fired generation capacity. The outages stem from state power utility Eskom Holdings’ failure to adequately invest in new capacity and the maintenance of 14 operating coal-fired power plants. The energy shortages have been exacerbated by the slow ramp up of its two newest plants.
November 28, 2022 by

Embedded generation project pipeline stands at 9 GW – Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa reports that the pipeline of confirmed private embedded generation projects has increased to 100 with a total combined capacity of around 9 000 MW. The President confirmed the figure in a series of written responses to Parliamentary questions posed by Democratic Alliance permanent delegate to the National Council of Provinces from the North West, Carin Visser.
November 28, 2022 by