Cabinet welcomes appointment of Nersa chair, SANEDI CEO

Cabinet has welcomed the appointment of Thembani Bukula as chairperson of the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) and Zandile Mpungose as deputy chairperson – both as part-time members.

It also welcomed the appointment of Precious Sibiya and Thembeka Semane as part-time members of Nersa, as well as the reappointment of Fungai Sibanda as a part-time member.

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Eskom warns of load-shedding risk as Koeberg Unit 2 is shut again

Electricity utility Eskom reported on Friday that Unit 2 of the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station, which was returned to service earlier this month following an extended outage, was shut down after one of the control rods developed a mechanical problem. The utility indicated that repairs could take up to five days and that the probability of load-shedding had, thus, increased. 
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Stage 2 load-shedding might be implemented at short notice tonight, this weekend

Eskom has cautioned the public that its generation system remains constrained and Stage 2 load-shedding could be implemented on Friday night, or during peak times on Saturday and Sunday.  “The cold front expected during the weekend is also anticipated to result in increased demand for electricity, adding to the capacity constraints,” Eskom said. 
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Coal miners starting to take energy-transition steps

Creamer Media’s Chanel de Bruyn speaks to Engineering News Editor Terence Creamer about plans by South African coal miners Seriti Resources, Exxaro Resources and Thungela Resources in the renewables space and how that positions them for the future. This is all happening at a time when the coal market is experiencing significant demand growth as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the impact thereof on the global energy sector.
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South African town councils owed Eskom R49.1bn by end-July

South African municipalities’ debt to state-owned power utility Eskom Holdings rose almost 10% since March to R49.1-billion by the end of July, Deputy President David Mabuza said. “This is not a desirable state of affairs for both Eskom and municipalities,” Mabuza told lawmakers in a briefing on Thursday. “For that reason, Eskom forms part of a multi-disciplinary revenue committee which is meant to address payment of debt to the utility by municipalities and organs of State.”
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Three voyages reach FLNG development

In April, heavy lifting shipping company BigLift Shipping announced it had been contacted by global oil and gas company TechnipFMC and it had subsequently successfully made three heavy lift vessels available for work on the Coral floating liquefied natural gas development in Mozambique. The vessels were contracted to mobilize the client’s equipment from various ports in Europe – Aberdeen, in the UK, Moss, in Norway, Le Trait, in France, Bilbao, in Basque Country, in Spain and Marina di Carrara, in Italy – and were destined for the Maputo and Pemba Bay ports in Mozambique.
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Energy transition also requires choices to ensure food, water security

While the jury is still out on how exactly climate financing will be used to set South Africa’s energy sector on a low-carbon path, there are various other impacts and changes to industries and households looming, that are not discussed as often.

Some of these issues and considerations were unpacked in a webinar hosted by the Black Energy Professionals Association, with comments from exhibition host Enlit Africa head of content Claire Volkwyn, research institute Trade and Industry Policy Strategies senior economist Nokwando Maseko and civic education institution Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung South climate justice project manager Dr Roland Ngam.

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Namibian green hydrogen developer expects implementation agreement on $10bn project by year-end

Green hydrogen development company Hyphen Hydrogen Energy (Hyphen) is optimistic that the implementation agreement for a planned $10-billion project will be signed with the Namibian government by year-end. The signing of the implementation agreement will trigger the commencement of the front-end engineering and design phase of the project, which will be constructed over two phases with the eventual goal of producing 350 000 t/y of green hydrogen from 5 GW to 6 GW of renewable generation capacity and a 3 GW electrolyser.
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Red Star hosts Southern Africa’s first closed-track solar vehicle challenge

The Ilanga Cup is Southern Africa’s first closed-track endurance circuit event, which is focused on promoting innovations in renewable and alternative energy. Darren Parker attended the Ilanga Cup where he saw teams go head-to-head in an endurance challenge.
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California proposing to extend the life of its nuclear power plant

The Governor of the US State of California, Gavin Newsom of the centre-left Democratic Party, has circulated draft legislation among the State’s lawmakers that would extend the life of California’s one-and-only nuclear power plant (NPP), Diablo Canyon. The draft legislation has been shown to various US news media. Originally commissioned in 1985, the two-reactor NPP is currently due to be shut down in 2024-2025, with the first reactor being shut down in late 2024 and the second in August 2025. It currently provides the State with 8.6% of its electricity, but 17% of its zero-carbon electricity.
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