Author Archive for: Engineering News

South African power utility Eskom expects a final decision on a new $476 million World Bank loan to repurpose its Komati coal-fired power plant into a renewable station before November’s COP27 climate summit, CE Andre de Ruyter said on Friday. The money will be used for three packages, which includes decommissioning certain parts of the 1 000 MW Komati power plant that is currently only using one unit to despatch 125 MW of power when needed, as Eskom battles its worst period of power cuts since it started more than a decade ago.

South African state power utility Eskom said it was extending rotational power cuts until Monday due to plant breakdowns causing a persistent shortage of generation capacity. Eskom said it would implement “Stage 4” power cuts until 05:00 local time (0300 GMT) on Sunday, and thereafter “Stage 3” until 05:00 on Monday.

A proposal by wealthy nations to mobilise $8.5-billion for South Africa to help reduce its dependence on coal has proved more complex than anticipated, which has stalled its implementation. The money was offered to South Africa at United Nations climate talks in Glasgow last year under a deal that was seen as a possible blueprint for helping other coal-reliant developing countries transition to using cleaner energy. Details of the types of financing that will be made available and the terms and conditions attached to it are still being hashed out, along with South Africa’s investment plans, said Barbara Creecy, the nation’s environment minister.

South Africa’s government is bracing for more frequent and longer electricity outages as the state-owned power utility’s aged and poorly maintained plants continue to deteriorate. The nation has been subjected to rolling blackouts, known locally as loadshedding, since 2008, with 4 000 MW of capacity currently being cut from the grid to ensure it doesn’t collapse. The ongoing energy shortages were a major contributor to the economy’s 0.7% contraction in the second quarter.

Developing nations expect rich countries to commit more funding to adapt to global warming and a financing mechanism to help them cope with natural disasters when they meet at the COP27 climate summit in November, South African Environment Minister Barbara Creecy said. Creecy was one of the prominent African voices before the COP26 event in Glasgow last year. She’s demanded affluent nations that have emitted the bulk of the world’s climate-warming gases commit more assistance to those most affected by the impact of rising temperatures.