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South Africa’s electricity woes continue to place manufacturing at risk

The lack of reliable electricity supply is not only leading to lost production and increased costs across South Africa’s shrinking manufacturing sector, but has left enterprises unable to plan, invest and grow, Manufacturing Circle executive director Philippa Rodseth warned on Tuesday. Speaking at the start of a two-day electricity forum hosted jointly with the Industrial Development Corporation to discuss collaborative solutions to the ongoing problem, Rodseth said load-shedding remained an area of great concern, as did inadequate investment and poor maintenance by municipal distributors.
October 19, 2021 by

Wind sector manifesto sets out eight steps for govts to reach climate goals

The global wind energy sector has released a manifesto calling on governments to get serious about the energy transition and to work with the private sector to rapidly scale up wind and renewable energy installations.

The 90 wind energy companies and associations that contributed to the manifesto say annual wind installations need to scale up by four times the current levels for the world to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

October 18, 2021 by

Where a $5bn green incentive runs into politics of coal

The world’s richest countries are courting South Africa as a model of how to transition to a more climate-friendly future from a dependency on coal. While $5-billion of cheap loans and grants are on offer as a first step, transforming Africa’s most industrialized economy demands more than cash. It needs to win over power brokers like Gwede Mantashe, a former coal unionist who is now energy minister and chairman of the ruling African National Congress, to weaken the nation’s reliance on the black rock.
October 18, 2021 by

Tlou signs PPA with Botswana government

Dual-listed Tlou Energy expects to sign a 10 MW power purchase agreement (PPA) with State-owned Botswana Power Corporation, for power generated at Tlou’s Lesedi project.

Tlou plans to develop gas, solar and hydrogen power generation assets at Lesedi, with electricity to be sold into the local power grid.

October 18, 2021 by

Creecy says a climate finance breakthrough is key to COP26 success

South Africa’s Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy says a breakthrough is needed at COP26 on the issue of climate finance, warning that the failure of developed countries to honour their $100-billion-a-year commitments has led a breakdown of trust. Addressing a virtual stakeholder consultation session on South Africa’s position ahead of the upcoming climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, Creecy said that COP26 would not live up to the expectation of being an “ambitious COP” unless clarity was provided on the actual mobilisation of the $100-billion already pledged.
October 15, 2021 by

Eskom seeks urgent court order to have 2022/23 tariff application adjudicated by Nersa

State-owned electricity utility Eskom has approached the Gauteng High Court to have the regulator’s recent decision to reject its revenue application for the period 2022/23 to 2024/25 set aside for being “patently irrational and unlawful”. Eskom approached the court this week for a review of the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (Nersa’s) September 30 decision to reject its latest application on the basis that the methodology Nersa used to determine Eskom’s allowable revenue had expired and would be replaced by a new methodology, which was currently the subject of a stakeholder consultation process.
October 15, 2021 by

South Africa’s banks say they can’t cut off funding for coal just yet

South African banks say they have to keep funding at least some coal projects for now because an immediate halt would put huge political and economic strains on a nation that relies on the most polluting of fossil fuels. The top four banks have started to withdraw financing, with Nedbank and FirstRand setting deadlines of 2025 and 2026 respectively to end funding for new thermal coal mines. Both have stopped lending to new coal-fired power plants.
October 15, 2021 by