Eskom records first full-year profit in eight years

State-owned power utility Eskom on Tuesday reported its first full-year profit in eight years thanks to government debt relief, higher tariffs and a sharp reduction in power cuts. Eskom made profit after tax of R16-billion in the year to the end of March 2025, compared to a R55-billion loss a year earlier, its annual report showed.
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SPS, B2Gold launch first solar wheeling project under Namibia’s MSB programme

Sustainable Power Solutions (SPS), in partnership with B2Gold Namibia, the Oelofse family and Fortitude, have commissioned Namibia’s first solar wheeling project under NamPower’s Modified Single Buyer (MSB) Programme, which allows private independent power producers (IPPs) to sell electricity directly to large customers using the national grid. SPS funds, develops, and operates solar PV and battery storage projects, primarily in the commercial and industrial sector in sub-Saharan Africa.
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Eskom chair says future tariff hikes should be in line with inflation

Eskom chairperson Mteto Nyati says the next mission of the board is to drive electricity affordability in a way that ensures that future electricity tariff increases do not exceed the rate of inflation. Speaking during a PSG webinar Nyati said that significant progress had been made on stabilising energy security and that the board’s new directive to management was to ensure a moderation in tariff increases.
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BII invests $20m in hardest-to-reach Africa energy access expansion initiative

UK development finance institution British International Investment (BII) has committed $20-million to impact investment organisation Acumen’s Hardest-to-Reach (H2R) Initiative to help expand access to affordable, reliable and clean energy in frontier economies in Africa. The initiative’s debt-focused vehicle H2R Amplify will provide financing to established offgrid solar companies in the most underserved countries in sub-Saharan Africa to accelerate energy access.
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Energy dept, SAREM committee pledge to accelerate country’s renewable energy plan

The Executive Oversight Committee (EOC) of the South African Renewable Energy Masterplan (SAREM) and Electricity and Energy Deputy Minister Samantha Graham-Maré have signed a pledge in which they commit to the swift realisation of the masterplan. SAREM’s overall vision is the “industrialisation of the renewable energy and battery storage value chain to enable inclusive participation in the energy transition, serve the needs of society and contribute to economic revival”.
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Nersa launches market inquiry into impact of fixed charges on electricity customers

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has launched a market inquiry into the impact of fixed charges being levied by Eskom and municipal electricity distributors, which it claims have already resulted in hikes for some customers that are substantially higher than the 12.74% increase approved for 2025/26. A terms of reference document has been published with a deadline for written comments set for October 25, and with public hearings scheduled for November 17.
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European Commission launches €545m Initiative to Accelerate Africa’s clean energy transition

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has announced a €545-million Team Europe package to support Africa’s transition to clean energy. The announcement was made by means of a video message at the Global Citizen Festival in the context of the UN General Assembly and is part of the European Commission’s ‘Scaling Up Renewables in Africa’ campaign, which is co-hosted with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
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Fraught Eskom build programme completed as Kusile Unit 6 enters commercial operation

Unit 6 at Kusile power station has officially entered into commercial operation, which Eskom says marks the end of its multi-decade build programme – one which experienced well-publicised delays, major cost overruns, and technical problems, alongside allegations of serious corruption that featured heavily at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture. Construction on the Mpumalanga coal-fired power station started in August 2008 and was initially expected to take six years to complete, while the project’s initial budget of about R80-billion subsequently swelled to above R233-billion.
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Loadshedding fell 82% in first half amid demand drop, steady Eskom output

South Africa experienced a sharp reduction in loadshedding during the first half of this year, with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) reporting on September 26 that the amount of electricity shed fell by 82% compared with the same period in 2024. According to the council’s latest power generation statistics, covering the period from January 1 to June 30, a total of 749 GWh was shed from the grid, down from 4 126 GWh in the first half of last year. The report attributes this improvement to lower electricity demand, new generation capacity and a marginal rise in Eskom’s energy availability factor (EAF).
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Govt moves to end load reduction

Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses government’s interventions to tackle load reduction, which is highly disruptive to the lives of people living in areas where electrical overloading is common.   
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