Eskom coal supply mine Arnot OpCo placed under business rescue

The South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg has placed Arnot OpCo into business rescue just months after the shuttered mine revived operations and supply of coal to Eskom. In a judgment handed down on Monday, the Salungano Group – the 50% owner of Arnot –  was granted its application to have the operation placed under supervision and business rescue proceedings in terms of the Companies Act.
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Court upholds environmental authorisation for Eskom gas plant

The North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria has dismissed a bid to have the environmental authorisation for Eskom’s proposed gas power plant in Richards Bay overturned, but has taken aim at the deficient public participation process. In the judgment handed down by Judge Anthony Millar last week, the court dismissed a landmark application brought by two environmental justice NGOs – the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance and Groundwork – to review and set aside the Department of Environmental Affairs’ decision to grant Eskom’s proposed power plant an environmental authorisation.  
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Presidency says load-shedding likely to persist for another 18 months

The Presidency insists that progress is being made to implement the plan outlined by President Cyril Ramaphosa on July 25 to tackle load-shedding, which breached 4 100 GWh by the end of September – a level that is materially worse than the 1 776 GWh shed in 2021, the country’s previous worst load-shedding year. However, The Presidency’s Rudi Dicks cautions that rotational power cuts are likely to remain a reality for at least another 18 months.
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Germany says new funding of R6.2bn will help support South Africa’s just energy transition

Germany has announced that its new funding commitment of R6.2-billion (€355-million) for South Africa includes funding for the country’s “just transition towards climate neutrality”. The announcement of the two-year funding commitment follows government-to-government negotiations, led on South Africa’s side by the National Treasury, on South African-German development cooperation, which took place on October 5 in Pretoria.
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TNPA to issue renewables RFP for seaports in November

The State-owned Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) reports that it will release a request for proposals (RFP) in November for the procurement of between 50 and 80 MW of renewable energy across its eight commercial seaports. The RFP issuance follows on from the receipt of about 30 responses to a request for information issued on July 22 to gauge market appetite for such a programme.
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Load-shedding to be suspended on Saturday morning after record spell

Load shedding will be suspended at 05:00 on Saturday morning due to lower weekend demand and adequate emergency generation reserves, Eskom said in a statement on Friday.  The embattled power utility has implemented a record spell of unbroken rolling power cuts as it suffered a series of breakdowns at many of its key power stations in recent weeks. 
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Shoprite increases solar capacity by 82% in 12 months 

The Shoprite group says it has increased its installed capacity of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems by 82%, to 26 606 kWp, over the past 12 months. The 143 674 m2 of solar panels at 62 sites is equivalent to the size of 20 soccer fields.
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Offshore wind farms a potential energy source

Offshore wind farms have received less attention in the transition to net zero, primarily owing to technology barriers linked to higher capital costs and the lesser adoption of the technology, says University of Pretoria (UP) former master’s student and current engineering unit manager Sibusiso Nozakuzaku, who conducted a study on the feasibility of offshore wind farms. These challenges are observed globally, and are not specific to South Africa, adds UP sustainable management senior lecturer Dr George Alex Thopil, who was Nozakuzaku’s supervisor.
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Shoprite clinches R3.5bn in sustainability-linked loans

The Shoprite group has finalised R3.5-billion in sustainability-linked loan agreements, with the aim to expand its key environmental programmes as part of a wider sustainability strategy.  The finance agreements include a R2-billion loan from Standard Bank, as well as an R800-million sustainability-linked loan and a R700-million green loan from Rand Merchant Bank for investment in environmental projects. 
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Cape Town to build first solar plant in Atlantis next year 

The City of Cape Town plans to build its first grid-connected solar plant next year as one of its interventions to end load-shedding over time.  The city has issued the tender for the engineering, procurement and construction of a 7 MW solar photovoltaic facility in Atlantis. 
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