Dr Titus Mathe will step down as South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI) CEO on March 31 after being appointed as the new Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) CEO, SANEDI announced on January 30. Mathe has led SANEDI since October 2022.
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) registered 147 new electricity generation facilities in the quarter ended December 31 – the third quarter of the 2025/26 financial year – adding total capacity of 1 960 MW and an investment of R33.39-billion. The regulator processed these registrations within an average of nine working days, a notable improvement from the third quarter of the 2024/25 financial year when 117 applications were processed in an average of 14 working days.
The latest update on progress being made in implementing the structural reforms that have been prioritised under Operation Vulindlela has again identified Eskom’s restructuring as a reform area “facing significant challenges” and where intervention is required. Lagging restructuring progress at Eskom is one of only three reforms highlighted as facing difficulties, even though several others are listed as experiencing delays.
Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses the big trade and industrial policy decisions that loom as key minerals processing and manufacturing sectors bend under the weight of high electricity tariffs and surging import competition.
State-owned power utility Eskom has raised its salary increase offer to trade unions to 5.5% from the 3.5% it proposed last year, a document seen by Reuters showed, though it remains well below what unions are demanding. Eskom has been a long-term drag on Africa’s biggest economy through its electricity cuts and financial woes. But a sharp improvement in the performance of its coal-fired power stations has allowed it to stop implementing nationwide blackouts. It reported its first full-year profit in eight years last financial year.
Steam generation solutions company Steinmüller Africa has won two honours at State-owned power utility Eskom’s Duvha Power Station awards, held in December, for delivering a “decade-first maintenance breakthrough”. The company claimed the ‘Key Service Provider in Maintenance 2025’ and ‘Best Corporate Social Investment (CSI) Contribution Team’ awards at the power station’s yearly supplier recognition programme.
The Electricity Regulator has approved an application by Eskom to extend temporary tariff relief to ferrochrome producers Samancor Chrome and the Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture for a period of 12 months. Eskom made an application to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) to supply electricity to smelters owned by the two entities at a temporary tariff of 87c/kWh, instead of 135c/kWh.
South Africa’s energy regulator on Thursday approved an application by Eskom to reduce electricity tariffs by 35% for two distressed ferrochrome operations battling high power costs. More than a dozen smelters have shut down in South Africa in recent years, leading to thousands of job losses, largely due to high electricity costs which have surged by more than 900% since 2008.
State-owned power utility Eskom this week unveiled a Climate Smart Horticulture Centre at the Grootvlei power station, marking a practical milestone in linking South Africa’s Just Energy Transition (JET) to new local economic opportunities in climate-smart food production and skills development. Together with the government of the Netherlands, and with support from Enterprising Africa Regional Network, Mpumalanga Green Cluster, Seed2Feed Foundation, Holland Green Tech, Ridder and other agricultural organisations, eight community members from the Dipaleseng municipality are being trained as greenhouse facilitators.
Even if only incremental steps are taken, South Africa must continue to progress its electricity market liberalisation and reform agenda, such as launching the South Africa Wholesale Electricity Market (SAWEM), even if only involving a few organisations. Further, while there were many competing challenges to be addressed to ensure progress, grid access was highlighted as a key element in the coming year by the experts who participated in the ‘South Africa’s Energy Outlook 2026 – Sustaining Reform Momentum’ webinar hosted by Creamer Media on January 28.
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