Author Archive for: Engineering News

Load-shedding will be escalated to Stage 4 on Monday afternoon, Eskom announced. This is owing to a unit at Kusile power station tripping earlier on Monday, taking 720MW of generating capacity with it, Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said.  “While this unit has since returned to service, it will slowly load up to full capacity during the night.” 

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana reports that work is under way with the private sector to unblock the remaining obstacles to investment of about R54-billion in embedded generation projects. Speaking during a presentation of Operation Vulindlela’s first quarter progress report, Godongwana said he was aware of frustrations over the slow pace of the structural reforms being championed under the initiative, including those designed to address the electricity crisis.

South Africa must accelerate plans to generate more electricity itself, buy more energy from private producers and make it easier for power-hungry mining companies to build their own plants, according to a draft economic policy document compiled by the nation’s governing party. Projects outlined in the government’s Integrated Resources Plan won’t be sufficient to end rolling blackouts, and the energy blueprint should be reviewed, the African National Congress said in the document seen by Bloomberg. It called for privately built plants to be designated as strategic infrastructure projects, which would make it easier for them to get environmental approval, and for registration requirements to be streamlined.

State-owned utility Eskom says the National Treasury’s relaxation of some procurement and supply chain management rules and processes contained in the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) will assist it in speeding up critical and urgent procurement. The amendment, which is outlined in an instruction note that became effective in April,  will also empower it to engage directly with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and maintenance suppliers.