Systems assist with loadshedding woes

The current energy crisis sweeping South Africa has increased the need for reserve power, whereby complete management systems can help manage different energy sources, says power management company Eaton Africa power quality product manager Jaco du Plooy. He explains that, while solar power is being used by local businesses, solar energy is limited to certain times of day when sunlight is available, thereby increasing demand for energy storage among local businesses.
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Sasol says 600 MW renewables deal ‘imminent’ as it moves to cut emissions

JSE-listed group Sasol expects to conclude power purchase agreements for 600 MW of renewable energy “imminently” as it moves ahead with plans to meet a 2030 target of reducing its greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions by 30%, while sustaining energy and chemical production volumes. The renewables electricity will be wheeled to the group’s South African operations through the Eskom grid by 2025 and Sasol expects to add a further 600 MW of renewables by 2030.
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South Africa’s growth to remain below 2% until electricity supply constraints ease

Financial services firm Nedbank expects South Africa’s economic growth to remain below 2% over the next two to three years until more power generation comes online. Additional power generation capacity would result in greater energy certainty and provide an incentive for more investment in the country.
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Dropped generator for Koeberg on track to arrive in December, Eskom tells Parliament

Eskom has said it will meet the deadline to get a steam generator that suffered minor damage when it was dropped at a Chinese factory to Koeberg Unit 1 by December this year. An Eskom delegation updated a joint meeting of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises and the Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources and Energy on concerns with getting a unit at Koeberg in Cape Town ready for operation.
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Emergency plan to tackle South Africa’s energy crisis remains work in progress

President Cyril Ramaphosa promised in late July to implement emergency measures within three months to tackle record blackouts. But those have only been partially implemented and outages continue. Ramaphosa plans to deal with energy-related issues when he addresses parliament in Cape Town on Thursday, his spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said. He declined to comment on the specifics.
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Kusile Unit 1 shut after chimney suffers severe damage

Severe damage to a chimney at Kusile is the latest blow to the beleaguered power station. On Wednesday, Eskom said that the flue gas duct at Unit 1 of the Mpumalanga power station “failed” in two places on October 23.
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Enpower Trading, SolarAfrica Energy ink 20-year power purchase agreement

Energy trader Enpower Trading and solar energy firm SolarAfrica Energy have signed a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) to deliver up to 100 MW of renewable power supply.

The PPA is the first contract secured for Enpower Trading, which has secured a licence from the National Energy Regulator of South Africa.

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Commission refers competition complaint against Vita Gas to the tribunal

The Competition Commission has referred to the Competition Tribunal a complaint against Vita Gas for the alleged abuse of market dominance in the supply of liquified petroleum gas (LPG) from import terminals in the Western Cape.

The commission found that Vita Gas allegedly contravened the Competition Act and exploited its market dominance by entering into an exclusive agreement with the only LPG terminal in the Western Cape – the Saldanha Bay-based Sunrise Energy import and distribution facility.

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Solar provider gets RMB Corvest’s backing as a strategic partner

Private equity firm RMB Corvest has invested in Sedgeley Solar Energy Namibia (Sedgeley Energy) as a strategic partner to enable Sedgley Solar to capitalise further on rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) opportunities.
 
Independent investment banking firm Bravura, which was appointed by Sedgeley Energy, identified private equity fund RMB Corvest as a strongly-aligned investment partner. 
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Developing country carbon emissions clemency not applicable to South Africa – Nicholls

South Africa cannot be allowed to breach its climate change mitigation measures and Paris Agreement declarations despite it being an emerging country that is dependant and still heavily reliant on fossil fuels, South African Presidential Climate Commission mitigation head Steve Nicholls told delegates at last week’s ESG Africa Conference.

Many African countries have, of late, requested lenience in meeting climate change mitigation commitments, requesting also a delay in their abandonment of cheap and easy-to-obtain fossil fuels as a result of their delayed and inhibited industrial and social development.

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