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AfDB sustainable energy fund secures $90m in new funding

The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (Sefa), managed by development finance institution the African Development Bank (AfDB), approved seven high-impact projects worth $54-million in 2020, the fund’s 2020 Annual Report shows. The fund also attracted increased donor funding and secured commitments worth $90-million from existing and new donors in the year, including from the German Ministry for Development Cooperation and the Nordic Development Fund, both of which joined Sefa in 2020.
July 15, 2021 by

Nedbank leverages additional tier one instruments to help drive a net-zero economy

To strategically finance the transition to a net-zero economy, financial services provider Nedbank has once again approached the investment market to raise ‘use-of-proceeds’ green finance, this time through the issuance of the first listed green additional tier one instrument by a financial institution in Africa. The equivalent notional amount of funding raised through the green additional tier one issuance will be directed strategically to support the financing of new green infrastructure projects in South Africa.
July 14, 2021 by

Consortium unveils plans for zero-emission Eastern Cape e-methanol plant

An agreement for the development of a greenfield facility in Humansdorp, in the Eastern Cape, to manufacture zero-carbon e-methanol for sale locally and for export has been concluded by a consortium comprising Earth and Wire, ENERTRAG South Africa and 24Solutions. The proposed facility will produce e-methanol by combining green hydrogen, produced through an electrolyser using renewable electricity and desalinated seawater, with a synthesis gas, derived from a mixed feedstock of locally sourced biomass and unrecyclable municipal solid waste fed into a gasifier.
July 14, 2021 by

Steel giant to harness green hydrogen, renewables to produce zero-carbon steel

Steel group ArcelorMittal has signed an undertaking with the Spanish government in support of a €1-billion plan to construct a green hydrogen direct reduced iron (DRI) plant and a new hybrid electric arc furnace (EAF) at its facility in Gijón, in Asturias, as part of a pioneering move to transition the company’s Sestao plant, also in Spain, to a net-zero facility by the end of 2025. The proposed development has been outlined in a memorandum of understanding, signed this week, in which ArcelorMittal indicates that its Sestao plant is set to become the world’s first full-scale steel plant to manufacture zero carbon emissions steel.
July 14, 2021 by

AfDB provides $6m grant to launch West Africa desert-to-power programme

Development finance institution the African Development Bank (AfDB) has provided a $6-million grant to the West African Power Pool (WAPP) to conduct prefeasibility studies for the construction of the Sahel Transmission Backbone that will link regional solar parks in five countries that contribute to the WAPP. The grant is to launch the initial phase of the Desert to Power West Africa Regional Energy Programme. The AfDB-led Desert to Power initiative is expected to transform the Sahel by harnessing the region’s abundant solar potential.
July 13, 2021 by

Shell expresses concern over RMIPPPP delays as it confirms Karpowership SA partnership

Shell South Africa country chairperson Hloniphizwe Mtolo has confirmed that the energy group is the exclusive supplier of liquified natural gas (LNG) to Karpowership SA, whose three projects, totalling 1 220 MW, were named in March as preferred bidders under government’s Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP). In a statement, Mtolo argued that the three projects would assist the country to address its prevailing electricity shortfall and that Shell was “extremely concerned” about delays to the RMIPPPP.
July 13, 2021 by

Despite tailwinds, South Africa’s recovery could fade into ‘another lost decade’ without …

The World Bank expects South Africa to grow by 4% in 2021, supported by the strong global economic recovery from Covid and favourable commodity prices. However, the bank also warns that the medium-term outlook remains uncertain and will depend largely on whether the country is able to implement deeper economic reforms that support job creation and entrepreneurship. In its thirteenth South Africa Economic Update, released on July 12, the bank shows that the 2021 rebound, which follows the dramatic 7% contraction of 2020, is being underpinned by strong recoveries in key trading partners such as China and the US, as well as a marked improvement in its terms of trade.
July 12, 2021 by