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EXSA views Seriti Green deal as key milestone as it scales up for pure-play trading role

Licensed electricity trader Energy Exchange of Southern Africa (EXSA) describes its recently concluded 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Seriti Green as a major milestone in positioning the company as a sizeable “pure-play” trader ahead of South Africa’s transition towards a more competitive market. The R5-billion Mpumalanga project reached financial close in August on the back of the PPA, through which EXSA will buy all of the 525 GWh of electricity that the wind farm is expected to produce yearly once in full production. The 155 MW project, which will incorporate 25 wind turbines, is expected to begin generating electricity in October 2027.
August 18, 2025 by

Innovation group adds more tech to portfolio

To remain at the forefront of driving South Africa’s strategic energy objectives, the National Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Research Development and Innovation Strategy, known as Hydrogen South Africa, or HySA, continues to advance green hydrogen technologies for a sustainable future, says HySA Infrastructure Centre of Competence (CoC) director Professor Dmitri Bessarabov. HySA has made considerable progress along several technical frontiers, including high-power-density electrolysis systems, the adaptation of hydrogen refuelling protocols for local conditions and advanced hydrogen safety systems.
August 15, 2025 by

Nigeria approves $2.6-billion electricity sector debt refinancing plan

Nigeria has approved a phased plan to refinance 4-trillion naira ($2.61-billion) in electricity sector debt to help stabilise the nation’s ailing power industry and improve supply, its finance minister said. The debt, primarily owed to 27 power generation companies for outstanding invoices between 2015 and 2023, has stifled investment in the industry and exacerbated chronic power outages in Africa’s most populous nation.
August 14, 2025 by

Electricity reform ‘irreversible’, Ramokgopa insists as he again urges Eskom not to pursue …

Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa insists that the reforms under way in the electricity sector are “irreversible”, and has again confirmed that he has asked the Eskom board not to proceed with its legal case against the regulator’s decision to license five additional electricity traders in 2024. Having called a media briefing to provide an update on the performance of the grid amid concerns that Eskom was again relying too heavily on its expensive diesel generators, Ramokgopa fielded a series of questions about the status of the reform process and Eskom’s move to have the High Court review and set aside five domestic trading licences.
August 13, 2025 by

Two contractors shortlisted for R31.5bn Hiryo coal-to-fertiliser project

Two Chinese engineering companies, East China Engineering Science and Technology (ECEC) and Sinopec Ningbo, have made the final round of bidding for a basic engineering contract to build the $1.7-billion, or R31.5-billion, Hiryo coal-to-fertiliser industrial complex in Kriel, Mpumalanga, for blue ammonia and sustainable chemicals producer SUISO. The final decision is expected to be made this month by multilateral financial institution the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), which was appointed by SUISO as the project’s sole lead arranger, financial adviser and debt syndicator.
August 12, 2025 by

Necsa welcomes confirmation of site for next nuclear power station

The State-owned South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) Group welcomes the upholding of the decision to grant State-owned Eskom environmental authorisation to build a 4 000 MW nuclear power station in Duynefontein, in the Western Cape. The 2017 decision to grant environmental authorisation was confirmed by Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) Minister Dr Dion George last week following an appeal against the original decision, Necsa says.
August 11, 2025 by

Outa recommends public hold off on SSEG registration for now

Nonprofit the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) says it held a “constructive” meeting with Eskom Distribution management on August 8 regarding compliance and registration requirements for low-voltage solar PV systems and battery energy storage systems (BESSs) installed in homes and businesses throughout South Africa. Outa informs that the meeting revealed that Eskom Distribution is still busy addressing a number of matters that will impact the conditions and needs pertaining to the utility’s compliance and registration requirements for low-voltage small-scale embedded generation (SSEG) systems connected behind-the-meter on a customer’s premises.
August 11, 2025 by

Ramokgopa urges Eskom to withdraw legal case against traders

Electricity and Energy Miniter Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has urged Eskom to stay or withdraw its court action to have the National Energy Regulator of South Afirca’s (Nersa’s) licensing of five electricity traders in 2024 reviewed and set aside, highlighting an accelerated process by the regulator to finalise the trading rules. In a statement that makes reference joint statement by Business Unity South Africa and Business Leadership South Africa that slammed Eskom’s legal challenge and urged government, Ramokgopa stressed Eskom’s longstanding concerns regarding the absence of a clear, rules-based framework to manage the transition to a competitive electricity market. 
August 8, 2025 by