Greenpeace Africa on Tuesday disrupted Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe’s opening speech at the Africa Energy Indaba in Cape Town by staging a silent protest in front of the podium. Five protestors held up yellow placards that declared Coal = Corruption, Coal = Loadshedding and Gwede Stop Blocking Renewables.
Industry organisations the South African Photovoltaic Industry Association (SAPVIA) and the South Africa Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) have launched the 2023 South African Renewable Energy Grid Survey in conjunction with State-owned power utility Eskom. The 2023 version of the survey has been updated to account for projects that employ wheeling and has been expanded to capture even more detail per project to aid Eskom in its overall grid planning.
Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has dismissed what he called “unfounded allegations” by Good Party secretary general Brett Herron that he goes around the Eskom CEO and board to liaise directly with Eskom officials. Herron gave a television interview where he discussed the country’s energy crisis in the country and raised the allegations of Gordhan by-passing Eskom leadership.
Newly-appointed Minister of Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, reports that he will conduct an assessment over the coming seven to 14 days to help determine what powers he will request President Cyril Ramaphosa to transfer to him to tackle a supply deficit of about 10 000 MW. Ramokgopa’s deficit estimate, which he communicated during an interview on SAfm, is larger than the 4 000 MW to 6 000 MW shortfall previously communicated by Eskom and implies that the energy availability factor of the coal fleet is unlikely to recover as strongly as has been suggested by other government leaders.
As anticipated, Kgosientso Ramokgopa has been appointed as South Africa’s Minister of Electricity, a position which President Cyril Ramaphosa described as transitory and which has been created specifically to coordinate efforts to tackle the “severity and frequency of loadshedding as a matter of urgency”. “The Minister in the Presidency for Electricity will liaise with other relevant Ministers to ensure coherence in the issuing of directions during the National State of Disaster.
Following the failure of five generating units on Monday, Stage 5 loadshedding will be implemented from 16:00 until 05:00 on Tuesday, Eskom said. Stage 4 loadshedding will resume from Tuesday morning.
The Nelson Mandela University (NMU), in collaboration with the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services Sector Education and Training Authority (merSETA), recently held the inaugural NMU Solar Boat Competition, in Gqeberha. Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges and technical high schools participated in the competition. The event exposed learners and students to solar technologies and helped them develop essential skills to design and manufacture a simple solar-powered boat. The goal of the three-hour endurance race was to cover the longest distance in the time limit, with sunlight the only power source allowed for propulsion. The event was also about developing skills and interest in these areas among the youngsters.
The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) has been designated as the “single department” referred to in the recently published State of Disaster (SoD) regulations to coordinate the “streamlining and expediting of applications and decision-making procedures for regulatory processes related to energy generation projects”. The appointment is catered for under Regulation 5(1)(e) and the Presidency’s Rudi Dicks reports that the clause is in line with the National Energy Crisis Committee’s initiative to established a one-stop shop within government specifically to expedite regulatory approvals for electricity projects.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC’s) first solar photovoltaic (PV) metrogrid developer Nuru has secured an initial $1.5-million from investors in a convertible note round ahead of the close of its Series B funding round. The investment is a bridge to bolster the company’s $25-million Series B equity fundraise, which will be invested by a consortium of international investors at financial close.
Rich nations have an obligation to fund South Africa’s development of green hydrogen as part of a global effort to decarbonise, according to the Presidency’s infrastructure chief. The most industrialized nation on the continent that depends on coal to generate 80% of its electricity has plans to attract as much as $250-billion into green hydrogen, an emerging technology used to split water using renewable energy.
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