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Availability of sustainability funding driving changes in legal agreements

Demand for sustainability-linked loans is surging and banks are competing to offer this new form of finance in South Africa, which is driving legal firms like Webber Wentzel to innovate in the loan terms and agreements that they are drafting for clients, say Webber Wentzel partners Khurshid Fazel and Karen Couzyn. A sustainability-linked loan or a sustainability-linked debt security, collectively referred to as SLL, is different from a green bond.
October 25, 2021 by

Just Energy Transition to result in 300 000 new energy jobs over ten years – De Ruyter

Ongoing analysis and work done by various groups into the so-called Just Energy Transition (JET) points to the potential creation of 300 000 direct, indirect and induced jobs in South Africa’s electricity sector over the next decade, Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter said on October 22.

He added that this figure was over and above accounting for job losses in the coal sector as a result of the looming shuttering of some coal-fired power generation units.

October 22, 2021 by

South Africa to set up finance workstream to assess climate-finance offers

The South African government is set to establish a high-level technical workstream, which will work under the direction of a Cabinet subcommittee, to evaluate possible concessional finance offers that could be made in support of the country’s just energy transition strategy. The workstream is yet to be formally assembled, but Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy says it will include finance specialists from the National Treasury, the Department of Public Enterprises, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Eskom and possibly others.
October 22, 2021 by

Caterpillar, Tractafric complete 7.5 MW battery storage solution for grid stability at …

Construction and equipment manufacturer Caterpillar and equipment distribution multinational Tractafric have installed 7.5 MW of battery energy storage capacity at gold miner Barrick Gold’s Kibali mine, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The Tractafric solution is operational and deploys the battery energy storage and Caterpillar bi-directional power inverters (BDP) to provide grid stability. The Caterpillar Master Microgrid Controller seamlessly integrates up to 45 MW of power generated by three hydroelectric power stations and 36 Caterpillar 3512 diesel generator sets.
October 22, 2021 by

Hydrogen Society Roadmap to guide South Africa’s hydrogen rollout – Nzimande

The Hydrogen Society Roadmap (HSRM), which was approved by Cabinet on September 14, provides a “clear indication” of how hydrogen and fuel cell technologies could be a “game changer” for the South African economy, Science and Innovation Minister Blade Nzimande noted during the Hydrogen Economy Indaba – Series 3 event on October 21. He added, however, that, before South African could derive the full benefits of a hydrogen economy, several challenges had to be overcome.
October 22, 2021 by