Solar technology group Canadian Solar has announced that its majority-owned subsidiary CSI Solar had signed a 256 MW module contract with SOLA Group, the Cape Town-based independent power producer that is building two utility-scale projects in South Africa on the back of pioneering private power purchase agreements. The 126 MWp and 130 MWp apiece projects are located in the North West province and are the first to be registered with the National Energy Regulator of South Africa following a market reform allowing such projects to proceed without a licence.
More than $8-billion worth of gas, power, rail and mining projects across Australia, Mongolia and Papua New Guinea face delays following the collapse of engineering firm Clough on Monday. Projects that could be hit include the expansion of the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia, run by Rio Tinto, and major power plant and transmission projects essential to maintaining a stable grid in Australia from 2023.
Zimbabweans are being subjected to 19 hours of power cuts a day, because there is insufficient water in the Kariba dam to drive the nation’s main hydropower plant. The worst outages since 2019 are wreaking havoc, causing snarl-ups in Harare, the capital, where most traffic lights are no longer working, and interrupting mobile phone services because batteries used to run base stations don’t have time to recharge. Supermarkets, restaurants and some other businesses rely on generators to keep operating, but they are unable to run them perpetually for an extended period.
JSE-listed automotive and energy components manufacturer Metair says its verticals are performing well relative to their challenging operating environments, while also assuring shareholders that key projects remain on track in the automotive components vertical, despite the impact of global supply chain disruptions, semi-conductor shortages and shipping constraints, including port disruptions at State-owned Transnet’s operations. Further, the energy storage vertical continues to deliver strong automotive battery volumes and revenues despite the Turkish and Romanian operations navigating through short-term inflationary cost pressures and the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Energy efficiency actions have accelerated globally this year as governments and consumers have increasingly turned to efficiency measures as part of their responses to fuel supply disruptions and record-high energy prices, indicating a potential turning point after several years of slow progress, international organisation the International Energy Agency (IEA) says. Government ambitions on efficiency have grown as fuel prices soared, with many major policies, spending commitments and public campaigns launched.
According to the World Platinum Investment Council, there are signs that a global market in green hydrogen or green hydrogen derivatives is emerging, with more than 80 announcements between 2020 and 2021 for projects or collaborations that relate to global hydrogen or ammonia trade. Based on these announcements, the most active prospective importers are Germany, Japan and the Netherlands, with the most active prospective exporter being Australia.
Food manufacturer Tiger Brands has reported a 10% increase in total revenue to R34-billion from continuing operations, ultimately delivering robust results for the financial year ended September 30, despite tough trading conditions and significant input cost inflation. “This year’s solid performance is encouraging and provides us with important forward momentum and internal confidence as we continue to focus on . . . implementing our strategies,” Tiger Brands CEO Noel Doyle said on December 2.
Eskom will implement continuous stage 2 loadshedding until further notice due to the breakdown of six generating units at five power stations, the power utility said on Friday afternoon. There has also been a delay in return to service of “numerous” generating units, spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha added. A generating unit each at Duvha, Grootvlei, Hendrina, Majuba and two units at Arnot Power Station, were taken offline for repairs over the past 24 hours.
Swiss engineering and technology group ABB has been fined Swfr4-million ($4.3-million) by the country’s Attorney General in connection with a bribery case in South Africa. The Attorney General’s office on Friday said the penalty was imposed on ABB for “not having taken all necessary and reasonable organisational provisions in order to prevent bribery payments to foreign officials in South Africa”.
Although the global mining sector has set ambitious targets to reduce its carbon emissions contribution, the sector needs to thoroughly evaluate how to go about meeting these targets amid various challenges. The sector has pursued a combination of switching to renewable-energy sources, identifying opportunities to improve efficiencies to reduce energy consumption and investing in electric vehicles and low-emission fuels as a means of addressing its emissions.
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