Kibo energy appoints new CFO

Aim- and AltX-listed energy developer Kibo Energy has appointed Cobus van der Merwe group CFO and Pieter Krügel CEO of Kibo subsidiary Mast Energy Developments, effective June 1.

Van der Merwe brings to the position more than a decade of experience in managerial and executive roles in the investment management and energy, utilities and resources sectors.

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Rich nations offer debt guarantees on South African climate deal

A group of the world’s richest nations offered South Africa debt guarantees as part of a proposed $8.5-billion deal designed to cut the nation’s reliance on coal for power generation, people familiar with the talks said, potentially resolving one sticking point in the negotiations. The guarantees would enable South Africa or companies such as state power utility Eskom Holdings to borrow money needed to close down coal-fired power plants and enable the generation of renewable energy, one of the people said. The people asked not to be identified as the talks aren’t public.
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Lithium-ion battery assembly plant opened in Cape Town

Swedish energy storage specialist Polarium has opened a lithium-ion battery assembly plant in Montague Park, Cape Town. The facility is the group’s third in the world, with the other two plants in Mexico and Vietnam.
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Mantashe open to meeting with opposition to seek short-term solutions to power crisis

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has described as “constructive” a proposal by the opposition Democratic Alliance for a meeting to discuss short-term solutions to the country’s ongoing load-shedding crisis. In his Budget Vote address, Mantashe outlined the initiatives his department was taking to ensure that new capacity was added and to close what Eskom estimates to be a 4 000 MW to 6 000 MW immediate shortfall.
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Eskom confirms sabotage incidents at Tutuka

Power utility Eskom on May 19 confirmed an incident in which a cable was severed at the Tutuka power station this week while the power station was finalising preparations to return Unit 5 to service. “The damage to the cable had the effect of delaying the unit’s return to service by three days, as it took some time to locate the fault.
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Fanaroff dismisses infrastructure versus localisation dichotomy as ‘factually wrong’

The “either-or” narrative pitting accelerated infrastructure delivery against localisation has been challenged by Dr Bernie Fanaroff, who played a central role in the development of the Steel Master Plan, which identifies localisation as one of several instruments to be used to revive the embattled sector. Speaking at a conference on the master plan hosted by the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa, Fanaroff questioned the view emerging in some parts of government, business and academia that “localisation will add unnecessary costs, delays and quality issues” to the delivery of urgently needed infrastructure.
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Pivot to citizen-owned renewables could save City Power, energy specialist says ahead of indaba

Johannesburg could turn around the lossmaking performance of City Power, end load-shedding and improve the green credentials of its manufacturing industry by purchasing 80% of its wholesale electricity from large-scale, citizen-owned solar and wind plants at a cost below that purchased from Eskom currently. This is the view of Clyde Mallinson, an energy specialist who has conducted extensive modelling on a future domestic electricity supply industry based exclusively on solar, wind and storage.
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Wind energy industry reaffirms commitment to energy security

As the country once again contends with continued load-shedding, the South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) has reaffirmed the sector’s role in contributing to energy security. This is despite the recent announcement of delays to two renewable energy procurement rounds meant to unlock and deliver new generation capacity, SAWEA says.
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Energy crisis requires policy reform to resolve it – Seifsa

The reasons for South Africa’s energy crisis are well known and include the State ignoring the warnings that electricity generation was falling short, maintenance was not being undertaken, the grid having deteriorated to the point of near collapse and corruption being allowed to continue unbated, industry organisation the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) COO Tafadzwa Chibanguza states. He says that, what is needed now, is focus on what can be done to finally begin addressing the problem.
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Creecy offers provinces help to process EIAs for 100 MW embedded projects

Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy reports that she has written to provincial environment MECs to enquire whether they require any assistance in processing environmental impact assessments (EIAs) for embedded-generation projects that could help relieve pressure on the country’s load-shedding-prone grid. Speaking ahead of her department’s Budget Vote, Creecy said her letter outlined the urgency of the projects, which are being pursued by miners and other energy intensive businesses in line with a recent market reform allowing sub-100 MW projects to proceed without a licence.
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