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Solidarity calls on the private sector to apply for energy generation permits en masse

The only viable and sustainable solution to South Africa’s escalating electricity crisis is for small independent power producers (IPPs) to immediately flood the market on a large scale, trade union Solidarity’s Research Institute (SRI) has said. Through a concerted effort by the private sector – including businesses and private citizens alike – to invest in IPP capability, the country’s energy crisis could be resolved within months, the trade union said during a media briefing on July 8.
July 7, 2022 by

Kibo commits to buying first VRFBs under agreement with CellCube

Renewable energy development company Kibo Energy has committed to buy, from energy storage system company CellCube, two vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) for proof-of-concept energy storage projects. Kibo in May entered into an agreement to acquire a 51% interest in National Broadband Solutions (NBS) from Hasta Trust and to jointly assess and develop a portfolio of long-duration energy storage (LDES) projects in Southern Africa.
July 7, 2022 by

14 groups call on Mantashe to immediately commission more green power

As South Africans battle some of the worst load-shedding ever, there is growing pressure on Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe to allow for more renewables and battery storage to address the deepening energy crisis. Fourteen civil society organisations, in an open letter, requested that Mantashe immediately issue determinations for the procurement of 13 600 MW of renewable energy and 1 575 MW of storage capacity.
July 7, 2022 by

Eskom brings in former employees, manufacturers to deal with crisis

Eskom, which readily concedes it does not have the skills to maintain its plants, is on a drive to bring back former employees to mentor and train staff.  It is also, at last, bringing in the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to conduct maintenance on parts of its plants where its own engineers and artisans are having difficulty. This has previously been difficult due to red tape around public procurement.
July 7, 2022 by

Cable theft disrupts coal deliveries by rail to Majuba power station

Cable theft has critically constrained the delivery of coal by rail to the Majuba power station, as the portion of the rail network owned by State-owned power utility Eskom that feeds directly into Majuba has been severely damaged by the theft of overhead cables and critical overhead track equipment, reports State-owned Transnet Freight Rail (TFR). Eskom has been unable to restore the overhead track equipment, TFR says.
July 6, 2022 by

European Parliament endorses nuclear as a green energy, albeit on a transitional basis

The European Parliament, in a vote on Wednesday, endorsed nuclear energy, and certain gas energy projects, as green energy. The vote was actually on a motion to exclude nuclear and certain gas projects from the European Commission’s (EC’s) ‘Taxonomy Complementary Climate Delegated Act’. The motion was rejected by 328 votes to 278, with 33 abstentions, reported the European Parliament press office. The inclusion of nuclear and certain gas projects in the EC green energy taxonomy could still be vetoed by the European Council, which is composed of the Heads of State and/or Government of all the member states of the European Union (EU). According to the Reuters news agency, it would require 20 of the 27 members states to vote against the Complementary Delegated Act to veto it. The news agency described such an eventuality as “very unlikely”.
July 6, 2022 by

South Korea re-emphasises nuclear power in new energy policy

The Republic of (South) Korea’s (ROK’s) new administration (inaugurated in May) has announced a new energy policy which re-emphasises the importance of nuclear energy for the country, World Nuclear News has reported. New President Yoon Suk-yeol had promised to reverse the nuclear phase-out policy of his predecessor, President Moon Jae-in, which had been adopted on the latter’s inauguration in 2017, as a reaction to the Fukushima Daiichi crisis in Japan in 2011. The new policy aimed to ensure that nuclear power provided at least 30% of the country’s energy mix. The target date for achieving this was 2030. This would be achieved by completing nuclear power plants (NPPs) now under construction, and safely extending the lives of existing NPPs.    
July 6, 2022 by

NPC calls for declaration of ‘energy emergency’ to facilitate rapid building of generation …

The National Planning Commission (NPC) has called for the declaration of an ‘energy emergency’ to override any red tape currently preventing the construction of new electricity capacity, as well as to make it possible to build 10 000 MW of new generation and 5 000 MW of new storage capacity over the coming two years. “The most immediate priority is to ensure that new generation capacity is rapidly and urgently brought onto the grid, together with significant new storage capacity.
July 6, 2022 by

Just Transition Framework means South Africa can ‘proceed apace’ with $8.5bn partnership

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the publication of the Just Transition Framework will enable South Africa to “proceed apace with harnessing the benefits” of the Just Energy Transition Partnership concluded with the US, the UK, Germany, France and the European Union in late 2021. The partnership includes an offer of $8.5-billion in concessional climate finance to accelerate South Africa’s transition from coal to renewables and support workers and communities currently reliant on the coal value chain.
July 5, 2022 by