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Emvelo refinances Karoshoek Solar One stake through TBI’s new fund

Alternative investment and fund management group TBI has concluded its first deal in South Africa through its new Amandla Renewable Energy Fund. As part of the R440-million deal, TBI, along with Momentum Metropolitan Life and Absa, refinanced the existing funding of Emvelo’s 15% stake in the Karoshoek Solar One concentrated solar power (CSP) plant by subscribing for secured redeemable preference shares in the special purpose vehicle that holds Emvelo’s interest in the plant.
January 13, 2021 by

Opinion: Renewables in Africa must deliver more than just power

Amid concerns over energy supply, the renewables sector enters a new decade with impetus to boost socioeconomic development, writes Chris Antonopoulos. South Africa has entered a new decade with much to occupy its business community. For Lekela Power, the unprecedented impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy and on the population has been one of our foremost areas of focus. But not far behind that has been the country’s energy security.
January 13, 2021 by

Former Eskom manager held ‘secret’ meetings with Tony Gupta over Tegeta contract

Former Eskom manager, Ayanda Ntetha told the Zondo Commission of Inquiry on Tuesday that she had secret meetings with Tony Gupta at his Saxonwold home to discuss a coal supply contract between the power utility and Tegeta, a mining business owned by the politically connected family. Nteta, who was a senior manager in fuel resourcing said she did not tell any of her superiors about the 2015 meetings, an omission she attributed to a lack of trust between her colleagues in the company at the time. Nteta, at the time, was finalising the details of a R3.7 billion contract with Tegeta, which has now been declared by a court to be invalid and set aside.
January 12, 2021 by

Danish PM to lead IEA commission on making energy transition people-centered

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has announced the creation of a high-level global commission, headed by Danish PM Mette Frederiksen, to investigate how to ensure that people are placed at the heart of the unfolding global clean-energy transition. Speaking during a virtual briefing on Monday, IEA executive director Dr Fatih Birol said the other members of the commission would be named in due course and that its recommendations would be released ahead of the delayed COP26 climate negotiations, scheduled for Glasgow, Scotland, in November.
January 11, 2021 by

M&R subsidiary Clough secures Waitsia Stage 2 construction, engineering contract

JSE-listed engineering and construction group Murray & Roberts reports that its subsidiary, construction and engineering company Clough, has been awarded a A$400-million contract for an engineering, procurement and construction scope of work on the Waitsia Stage 2 development project in Western Australia.

Clough’s scope of work relates to a gas processing plant, including power generation.

January 11, 2021 by

Three-way talks on Ethiopian dam reach new impasse

Negotiations between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt, in a long-running dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile, have reached a new impasse, the three countries said on Sunday. “We cannot continue this vicious cycle of circular talks indefinitely,” Sudanese irrigation minister Yasir Abbas said in a statement.
January 11, 2021 by

First application made for power-tariff relief under new DMRE frameworks

The first application for tariff relief provided for under the Negotiated Pricing Agreement (NPA) frameworks published late last year by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has been submitted to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) for authorisation. Nersa tells Engineering News that it will follow its normal approval process and will make a determination within a period of 120 days if all the information has been submitted.
January 11, 2021 by

Eskom suspends rolling blackouts as demand ebbs

South African electricity company Eskom said on Friday it was suspending rolling power cuts implemented this week as demand had dropped ahead of the weekend. Eskom, which supplies about 95 percent of the country’s electricity mainly through coal, however urged consumers to continue using the resource sparingly as the system remained vulnerable and unstable.
January 8, 2021 by