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DBSA is working on transmission auction office

The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) is negotiating with government ministries to establish an office that will manage auctions of transmission projects, a senior official at the state-owned institution said. The bank wants to build on its creation of the Independent Power Producer Office, which it handed over to the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, that’s helped to realize utility-scale wind and solar projects, Michael Hillary, the DBSA’s group executive for financing operations, said in an interview.
May 24, 2024 by

Desert to Power Initiative to transform Africa’s most vulnerable region into an energy hub

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has emphasised its role in delivering the Desert to Power Initiative, which aims to energise one of the least developed and most marginal parts of the continent. The Sahel region, which is one of the most vulnerable regions in the world, will become a solar energy hub, targeting 11 countries: Burkina Faso, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan. Desert to Power seeks to generate 10 GW of solar power by 2030 by …
May 24, 2024 by

Nersa confirms registration of 105 more generators as overall number rises to 1 415

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) reports that it registered a further 105 generation facilities during the period from January to March 2024, raising to 1 415 the number of facilities registered since the system was introduced in 2018. In a statement, Nersa said the newly registered facilities had a combined capacity of  788 MW and a total investment value of R18.4-billion, increasing the overall capacity of registered projects to 7 158 MW and the total investment value to R131-billion.
May 24, 2024 by

Smart metering to drive energy efficiency

The age-old practice of monthly meter readings is drawing to a close in the face of the modern world’s dynamic and fluctuating energy demands says utility metering management solutions provider Remote Metering Solutions (RMS) chief commercial officer Frikkie Malan. He explains that traditional methods and legacy systems no longer meet the demand of capturing the complete picture of energy consumption and building operations, necessitating a shift towards real-time load profile consumption data enabled by smart metering.
May 24, 2024 by

Schneider launches local EV charging solution

Energy management and automation company Schneider Electric has launched a local electric vehicle (EV) charging solution, to cater for African countries’ transition away from fossil fuel-powered cars.

The solution, called EVLink, is part of Schneider’s EcoStructure eMobility offering and was developed in response to the lack of supporting infrastructure for EV charging on the continent.

May 23, 2024 by

Gas still has a crucial role to play in South Africa’s energy mix – Kearney

Gas has an important role to play in South Africa’s energy transition journey, Kearney partner Prashaen Reddy says amid calls for public comments on a draft Gas Master Plan, which was released for comment at the end of April. He notes that the Southern Africa region has had several recent gas finds across Mozambique, South Africa and Namibia, that allow for the development of indigenous resources to drive industrialisation, social development and economic growth.
May 23, 2024 by

Women having an impact in the energy sector, including Eskom, but a lot needs to be done

All four Eskom coal-fired power stations that are currently maintaining electricity availability factors (EAF) of more than 75% are headed by women. This was highlighted by Eskom group executive: human resources Elsie Pule on Thursday. She was participating in a panel discussion at the Women in Energy breakfast at the Enlit Africa 2024 conference, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. Every time a woman took over a power station, she affirmed, the EAF shot up. Eskom, a decade ago, created a Women Advancement Programme. Over ten years, this has resulted in the proportion of women senior executives in the State-owned national electricity utility increasing from 29% to 42%. The same progamme has reduced the gender salary differential to 6%.
May 23, 2024 by

Presidency insists 22.5 GW private IPP pipeline won’t be disrupted by Eskom move to reserve …

The Presidency does not anticipate that Eskom’s move to reserve scarce grid capacity for independent power producers (IPPs) participating in public procurement bidding rounds will disrupt the more than 130 private IPP projects being advanced outside of those processes to supply private consumers. Speaking during a briefing convened to report back on the reforms implemented under Operation Vulindlela, including those undertaken to address South Africa’s loadshedding crisis, the Presidency’s project management unit head Rudi Dicks lauded the progress being made through the Energy One Stop Shop to support the private projects stimulated by the reform to allow grid-connected private projects of any size to proceed without a licence.
May 22, 2024 by