Eskom has approached the Constitutional Court to argue that it should not be compelled to provide two of South Africa’s most indebted municipalities with more electricity than provided for in supply agreements. The power utility is seeking leave to appeal a high court ruling from August 2020 that directed it to increase the amount of electricity it provides to the struggling Ngwathe Municipality in the Free State and the Lekwa Municipality in Mpumalanga.
The South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) on May 23 said it was saddened and devastated at the passing of Human Resource and Ethics subcommittee chairperson Dr Namane Magau, who was also a board member of Necsa subsidiary NTP Radioisotopes, on May 20. “She carried her responsibilities steadfastly, with vigour, fairness and integrity until the morning of her last day,” the organisation said.
Financial services firm Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) has coordinated, arranged and structured a R500-million sustainability-linked credit facility for Old Mutual Property to encourage increased consumption of renewable energy as a percentage of Old Mutual Property’s total energy mix and enhance grey and black water recycling plants at the six main shopping centres in its retail property portfolio. The five-year term loan was made possible through a shared understanding between Nedbank CIB and Old Mutual Property of the importance of driving sustainability forward in key economic sectors, such as the retail property industry, which is a relatively large user of electricity and water, said Nedbank CIB head of sustainable finance solutions Arvana Singh.
The City of Johannesburg says it plans to partner with independent power producers (IPPs) on a R26-billion electricity investment strategy, which is designed to end load-shedding and place City Power on a more financially and environmentally sustainable footing. The strategy involves a diversification of electricity sources away from Eskom, which currently provides the city with 90% of its power, while also securing City Power’s revenue, which was currently threatened by grid defection, theft and the prospect of a “utility death spiral”.
Financial services company Standard Bank has announced that it is opening access to a comprehensive and sustainable supply of renewable energy solutions and components to homeowners and enterprises throughout Africa through a new Africa-China Trade Solutions (ACTS) renewable energy import platform. Using a network of fully vetted international providers from China, business owners and individuals can now source, land and finance accredited solar energy components for any scale of renewable power generation and storage.
A cable on Unit 1 at Eskom’s Matla Power Station was cut over the weekend in what is now the fourth incident of suspected sabotage at a power station in the past two weeks. News24 understands that on Sunday officials discovered the cut cable, but the 575-megawatt unit had fortunately not tripped because a backup cable had been left untouched. Three other cables in the same cable rack were also undamaged, a picture shared with News24 shows.
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has confirmed the registration of the first two 100 MW projects following the August 2021 amendment of Schedule 2 of the Electricity Regulation Act allowing sub-100 MW projects to proceed without a licence. Both solar photovoltaic projects are in the North West province and are being developed, financed, constructed and operated by the Sola Group, and its partners, for Tronox Mineral Sands.
A new forum comprising Eskom, Transnet and domestic industrialists is to be established to improve collaboration between the two large infrastructure-focused State-owned companies and domestic manufacturers and suppliers. The initiative was unveiled by Ministers Pravin Gordhan and Ebrahim Patel in their respective Budget Votes on May 20 and comes at a time when domestic industry is warning that inadequate and erratic demand, together with power cuts and collapsing freight logistics, pose a threat to manufacturing entities and their employees.
State-owned power utility Eskom this week revealed that it had implemented repairs and fixes to generation Units 1 to 3 at the Medupi power station, and that the units are operating at full load, producing 720 MW of electricity each. Unit 4, which was damaged in a generator explosion, after hydrogen (used to cool the shaft) mixed with air instead of carbon dioxide during a purging process, will be brought online in August 2024.
A day after Eskom confirmed incidents of sabotage at its Tutuka power station, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan alleged that another incident of sabotage had taken place at the Hendrina power station. The Hendrina incident raises to six the number of incidents of suspected sabotage that have been reported to the South African Police Service since March 2021.
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