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Eskom reports successful conversion of its prepaid customer base to KRN 2

Power utility Eskom says it has successfully completed its prepaid meter Key Revision Number (KRN) rollover project, but has set a new deadline of December 13 to assist paying customers who are still experiencing challenges and an estimated 1.7-million zero buyers that are yet to complete the upgrade. Eskom points out that it started off with a customer base of 6.91-million prepaid customers, while a data cleaning exercise fully updated the incomplete details of 341 000 customers, taking the customer base to 7.25-million.
November 27, 2024 by

Eskom welcomes S&P rating upgrade to positive from stable

State-owned power utility Eskom has welcomed the decision by international ratings agency S&P Global Ratings to upgrade Eskom’s ‘B’ long-term global-scale foreign and local currency ratings to positive from stable. The ratings agency also affirmed Eskom’s ‘B’ issue rating on the group’s senior unsecured debt and the ‘BB-’ foreign currency issue ratings on the government guaranteed debt.
November 27, 2024 by

DMRE to push for Cabinet approval of new-look IRP by end-March despite big revisions

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has reiterated its aim of securing Cabinet approval for a new Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) for electricity by the end of March after releasing a remodelled draft plan on Tuesday. Dubbed IRP2024, the updated plan includes a reference case and scenarios that differ materially from those contained in the draft IRP2023 released in January, leading to some calls for more time for consultations.
November 26, 2024 by

NTCSA appoints EPC suppliers for transmission substations

Following a strategic review of the National Transmission Company South Africa’s (NTCSA’s) corporate plan, which includes focusing on accelerating the delivery of the Transmission Development Plan (TDP), long-term agreements were signed with 28 local companies to provide the NTCSA with the services for the construction of substations. To date, the NTCSA has signed agreements with over 60 suppliers over the last few months, enabling them to respond to tenders and supply services in the areas of transformers, engineering services, overhead lines and substations.
November 25, 2024 by

Eskom finalises technical breakthrough enabling it to extend deadline for meter conversions

State-owned utility Eskom has noted that it, at the weekend, succeeded in a technological breakthrough enabling it to pre-create Key Change Tokens (KCT) on its online vending system. This meant that buyers with active meters, but who had not bought electricity in recent months, had been granted an extension to update their meters to be Key Revision Number 2 (KRN2) compliant beyond the November 24 deadline.
November 25, 2024 by

Zambia suffers nationwide power outage, State utility Zesco says

Zambia suffered a nationwide power outage on Sunday following a “power system disturbance”, the southern Africa nation’s state utility Zesco said.

The utility said the incident occurred our 18:15 GMT, leading to loss of power supply that affected the whole country.

It said it was working to resolve the unplanned outage, and power supply restoration was under way.

November 25, 2024 by

PE firm Harith buys African infrastructure fund for R6.5bn

A group of investors led by South African private equity firm Harith General Partners agreed to buy out an infrastructure fund with stakes in assets including Lanseria International Airport and Kelvin Power Station for R6.5-billion. The deal provides an exit opportunity for investors in the first Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund, which includes the continent’s largest pension fund — South Africa’s Government Employees Pension Fund — along with Absa Bank, Old Mutual and others. Harith will team up with Mergence Investment Managers and Zungu Investments
November 22, 2024 by

JUWI South Africa takes the lead on Senegal’s newest mine-site hybrid solar plant

French multinational miner Eramet’s subsidiary Eramet Grande Côte and renewable energy company JUWI Renewable Energies South Africa have closed a €30-million, or R600-million, deal to build a solar PV and battery storage solution for Eramet’s mine in Diogo, Senegal.

The planned 20 MW solar and 11 MWh battery project will meet 20% of the mine’s energy needs and reduce the mine’s carbon emissions by 25 000 t/y, mostly owing to the mine’s reduced reliance on heavy fuel oil.

November 22, 2024 by

Innovation, regulation, cybersecurity dominate 2025 AI trends

With the growing adoption and further development of AI, the technology is continuing to reshape the data centre industry – a reality reflected in the projected 2025 data centre trends determined by critical digital infrastructure and continuity solutions provider Vertiv, which it reported at its Powering the AI Era conference, on November 20, in Bologna, Italy. The company’s experts anticipate increased industry innovation and integration to support high-density computing, regulatory scrutiny around AI and an increasing focus on sustainability and cybersecurity efforts.
November 22, 2024 by

NTCSA says independent transmission projects must not reflect as balance-sheet liability

The head of the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA) has confirmed that the entity’s board will insist that any independent transmission projects (ITPs) procured in the coming years should not reflect as a liability on the new entity’s balance sheet. However, interim CEO Segomoco Scheppers tells Engineering News that he remains confident that such a framework will be found in the coming months, and that an ITP pilot procurement programme will be launched next year as has been signalled by government.
November 21, 2024 by