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Enel Green Power signs large-scale South Africa commercial renewable energy deal

Renewable energy company Enel Green Power South Africa has signed three long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) with industrial gases company Air Liquide South Africa and energy and chemicals company Sasol to supply 330 MW of renewable energy to Sasol’s Secunda site, where Air Liquide operates its large-scale oxygen production facility. Enel Green Power and sovereign wealth fund the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) jointly own Enel Green Power South Africa.
February 26, 2024 by

Ramokgopa says govt close to finalising structure for private grid financing

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says all the work being done by government on the financial structure to facilitate private investment into the country’s transmission infrastructure is being consolidated under his Ministry, including the work being done on the issue by the National Treasury and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). This confirmation follows an announcement in the National Treasury’s Budget Review that a request for proposals will be released by the end of July for a pilot project involving “off-balance-sheet financing to accelerate private-sector investment in transmission, without negatively affecting Eskom’s balance sheet and the fiscus”.
February 26, 2024 by

Another 124 power plants registered with Nersa raising total to 1 087 since 2018

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) reports that a further 124 generation facilities were registered during the third quarter of its financial year from October to December, increasing the number of facilities registered since 2018 to 1 087. The newly registered generators have a combined capacity of 605 MW and a collective investment value of R7.8-billion.
February 23, 2024 by

Eskom eschews $2.5bn of cheap loans as climate pact founders

South Africa’s State power utility has failed to tap $2.5-billion of cheap loans to build critical transmission infrastructure that would help end the country’s crippling energy crisis. That’s brought a landmark climate finance agreement — the Just Energy Transition Partnership — to a virtual halt, and extends the country’s reliance on coal plants. Finance ministry pressure on Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. to not take on new debt and a lack of clarity on how private investors can participate are hindering the deployment of about $7-billion of energy financing, according to a US Treasury official and six other people familiar with the situation.
February 23, 2024 by

Funding agreement confirmed for technology roll-out

Technology developer, licensed technologies supplier and joint venture project developer Conflow Power Group (CPG) confirms the final agreement of $250-million funding from Cede Bank. The transaction resulted from 18 months of detailed analysis and structural discussions to establish the value and potential revenue for all exclusive territories issued under licence for Conflow’s iLamp technology, primarily within continental US.
February 23, 2024 by

Lighting system advances energy efficiency

Luminaire manufacturer BEKA Schréder’s wireless control system Schréder ITERRA offers a wireless control solution for lighting applications, providing a “robust, cost-effective and futureproof platform” for customers to manage their infrastructure to adapt the lighting while maximising energy savings. The solution is based on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), the wireless communication standard fully compatible with all recent smart devices, including phones and tablets.
February 23, 2024 by

Eskom insists downward EAF slide has been ‘arrested’ amid Stage 4 loadshedding

Eskom insists the performance of its unreliable generation fleet is on an improving trajectory, releasing a graphic-heavy statement on February 22 disputing a recent report stating that its performance continued “going backwards”. The statement, which was published only hours after loadshedding was ramped up to Stage 4, also asserts the decline in the generation fleet’s energy availability factor (EAF), which has fallen consistently for the past six years, has been arrested.
February 22, 2024 by

Innovative interventions needed to turn around underperforming growth trajectory – Agbiz

Against the backdrop of a profoundly challenging macroeconomic environment where South Africa’s economy is expected to continue underperforming, averaging at 1.6% growth in the next three years, innovative interventions are needed to turn the current trajectory around, said the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz) chairperson Francois Strydom. “Increased spending on grants and other social security measures may be needed in the short term, but a shrinking tax base cannot sustain this trend in the long run. As [Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana] noted, we need to grow the pie.”
February 22, 2024 by

Cape Town driving forward with renewable energy, climate resilience programmes

Last year, Cape Town paid out R25-million to businesses which sold their surplus renewable energy to the city. And, starting this year, private citizens would be able to do the same. These developments were highlighted by Cape Town Executive Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis in an address to the Africa Green Economy Summit 2024, being held in Cape Town. He described this development as “the democratisation of energy” and affirmed that it “excited” him. The city had also, over the past year, completed three rounds of utility-scale renewable energy procurement bids, with a total capacity of 600 MW. The companies concerned could now start construction of their projects. A fourth bid round was still open (it would close in mid-April).
February 22, 2024 by