More than two weeks after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the electricity crisis had been declared a National State of Disaster, the regulations giving effect to that declaration have been Gazetted. In a statement issued on February 28, it was confirmed that the regulations were approved following a sitting of the President’s Coordinating Council, as well as a special sitting of Cabinet, which took place on the evening of Monday, February 27.
Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha, who joined Eskom on a fixed-term contract three years ago, will be leaving Eskom at the end of February. Mantshantsha had agreed to join Eskom as spokesperson to lead the Media Desk during a difficult period in which the organisation needed to restore trust and credibility in its dealings with the public and stakeholders.
Eskom is seeking comment on proposed amendments to the grid code, which it says are required to facilitate open and non-discriminatory access to the network for new generation in a context of severe grid constraints, especially in the Cape provinces, as well as changing market dynamics. Included in the proposed changes is the creation of a “reservation queue” that will be governed by the principle of “first-ready, first serve”, implying that projects with a higher state of readiness will be prioritised over a competing project with a lower state of readiness.
Business organisation Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busi Mavuso says the organisation is calling for issues to be explored in the vein of public interest, following State-owned utility Eskom’s former CEO André de Ruyter’s “controversial” interview with e.tv’s Annika Larsen in which he implied that a Cabinet Minister was aware of corrupt activities at a high level. “There’s important work to be done. Our three key network industries are in varying degrees of distress. No one needs reminding how severe our electricity crisis is as Stage 6 loadshedding hit again last week but, if reforms aren’t effectively implemented in the other network industries the consequences will be just as severe,” she writes in her weekly newsletter.
The ANC has threatened to file criminal charges against former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter if he doesn’t report his allegations of corruption at the power utility, backed with evidence, to law enforcement agencies in seven days. The party said De Ruyter was bound by law because of his former position as the head of the power utility to report acts of corruption.
Stage 4 loadshedding will continue until 16:00 on Monday afternoon, Eskom confirmed. It will be followed by Stage 5 from 16:00 to 05:00 on Tuesday morning. Loadshedding will then be reduced to Stage 3 between 05:00 to 16:00 on both Tuesday and Wednesday. Stage 4 will be implemented during 16:00 to 05:00 on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The KwaZulu-Natal government is planning to establish a battery energy storage system (BESS) under power utility Eskom’s flagship BESS project, Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube said on February 24. In her State of the Province Address, she noted that the BESS would be based in Elandskop.
The request for proposals for the procurement of 513 MW of battery energy storage capacity will be released before the end of February, the National Energy Crisis Committee’s (NECOM’s) Rudi Dicks confirmed on Friday. All the necessary approvals had been secured from the National Treasury for the IPP Office to proceed with the tender, he reported.
Embattled State-owned utility Eskom has denied having implemented either Stage 7 or Stage 8 loadshedding during what it acknowledged to have been a “tough week”, during which it reported power cuts exceeding 7 000 MW over some evening peaks. Each stage of loadshedding typically equates to 1 000 MW.
The Mpumalanga Provincial Government is, in partnership with the Presidential Climate Commission, the Climate Investment Fund and the World Bank, exploring plans to diversify local economic activity to reduce its dependency on coal. Premier Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane noted during her provincial State of the Province Address that the aim of the partnership was to ensure the re-skilling and upskilling of the most vulnerable in the labour force and to provide support for small businesses and …
INDUSTRY NEWS
WHERE TO FIND US
Address
9 Yellow Street
Botshabelo Industrial Area
Botshabelo, Free State
Call / Email Us
Tel: +27 (0) 61 956 6772
Email: info@transfix.co.za
SOME OF OUR PRODUCTS
CALENDAR
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
| 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
| 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |