Approval, in principle, for the construction of the second nuclear reactor (‘unit 2’) of Egypt’s El Dabaa nuclear power plant (NPP), has been granted by the Egyptian Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority (ENRRA), World Nuclear News reported on Tuesday. The decision was made on Monday, but the formal issuing of the licence would only take place on November 19, which is Nuclear Energy Day in the North African country. “This important event confirms Egypt’s insistence and its progress under the auspices of the country’s political leadership in achieving the long-awaited dream of producing clean electricity from nuclear plants, committed to the highest standards of nuclear safety and security in construction and operation,” stated the country’s Nuclear Power Plants Authority.
State-owned utility Eskom has invited interested parties to review and comment on the recently completed socioeconomic-impact assessment study for the Komati power station, which is being decommissioned and repurposed. Comments can be submitted by email to: social@urban-econ.com, or via WhatsApp to: +27 60 978 8396.
Stage 1 loadshedding will be implemented every day this week until Friday, while Stage 2 will be implemented nightly until Friday, Eskom said on Tuesday evening. Stage 1 will start at 05:00 and continue until 16:00, after which Stage 2 will start and continue until the next morning.
State-owned utility Eskom has reiterated its commitment to supporting transformation and empowerment in South Africa through its procurement. This follows after an Eskom board member was quoted in a weekend newspaper as saying that the utility could only be saved if current procurement policies were done away with.
Industry organisation the South Africa Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) has welcomed State-owned utility Eskom’s announcement, during the Transmission Development Plan (TDP) public forum on October 27, that about 53 GW of new additional generation capacity is expected to be added to the grid up to 2032. “This far exceeds the 30 GW proposed in the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) 2019, which once again illustrates the importance of updating the IRP to reflect the new realities of the energy sector taking into account the deterioration of the energy availability factor (EAF) of Eskom’s existing coal-fired power plants,” SAWEA emphasises.
German instrumentation and control company Vega opened its new 6 000 m2 Africa head office and warehouse, in Lanseria, on October 31, to enhance service in the country, as well as expand services and products into Southern and Central Africa.
Having previously occupied a 1 000 m2 Africa head office and warehouse in Honeydew from 2012 until this year, MD Frikkie Streicher says the company, experiencing significant growth over the past five to six years, has a long-term vision for the new building, having been allocated land with plenty of extra space – 15 000 m2 in total – so that the company can expand, as and when the need arises.
Moody’s Investors Service improved its outlook on Eskom Holdings’s debt ratings to positive after South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced last week the government could take over a substantial portion of the power company’s debt. Moody’s boosted the outlook from negative, signaling that the next ratings action may now be an upgrade instead of another downgrade. It affirmed the utility’s long-term corporate family rating at Caa1, seven levels below investment grade.
The West African country of Ghana is set to be the first beneficiary of a new joint US-Japan civil nuclear cooperation agreement, established last week, named ‘Winning an Edge Through Cooperation in Advanced Nuclear’ (WECAN). Aimed at helping countries meet both their energy security and climate change mitigation goals, the agreement was signed at a Ministerial meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the US capital of Washington DC. “The [IAEA] considers nuclear energy necessary to achieve long-term climate goals, including net-zero emissions by 2050,” pointed out the US State Department in its press release. “WECAN reaffirms commitments by Japan and the United States to energy innovation, energy security, and global clean energy transition in a smart, cost-effective, and secure way by advancing the latest technology and commercial leadership in emerging technologies that provide firm, reliable electricity and industrial heat.”
Well-known energy industry personality Nelisiwe Magubane, who served as director-general in the then Department of Energy for several years, has died at the age of 56 after a short illness. An electrical engineer, she began her professional career at Eskom, after completing a BSc Electrical Engineering (Heavy Current) at the University of Natal in the early 1990s.
Eskom has announced that the final unit at the Komati power station in Mpumalanga was shut at midday October 31, officially signalling the end of the station’s operating life as a coal-fired generator and the site’s transition to a renewables, storage, manufacturing and training hub – one that could serve as a global reference as several countries consider ways to transition away from fossil fuels while supporting the livelihoods of affected workers and communities. Komati has been identified as the flagship site for Eskom’s so-called ‘Just Energy Transition (JET) Strategy’, which includes various repowering and repurposing initiatives, including the development of 150 MW of solar photovoltaic, 70 MW of wind and 150 MW battery storage at the retired station.
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