The market structure section inserted into the Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill provides for a shift to a competitive multimarket electricity supply industry, which represents a significant departure from South Africa’s long-standing vertically integrated model monopolised by Eskom. Published for comment this week by Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, the new market structure is outlined in Section 32 of the Bill, which is proposed for insertion into the Electricity Regulation Act of 2006.
Business organisation Business Leadership South Africa CEO Busi Mavuso says business was hoping for a greater sense of urgency and stronger commitment from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (SoNA) to accelerating both the reform agenda and infrastructure rollout. “Overall, BLSA believes the President could have done more to address blockages to the efficient implementation of already agreed policy and didn’t go far enough to build confidence that 2022 would be the year of delivery.
Coal mining company Kangra has extended the life of its operations by opening up a new adit, which provides access to new underground coal reserves. Darren Parker tells us more.
Bearing equipment and services multinational SKF has allocated €300-million to investments in accordance with SKF’s Green Finance Framework. This is an important part of SKF’s focus on reducing its own emissions, as well as increasing investments in research and development, production, testing and remanufacturing capacity for products used in industries such as renewable energy generation, electric vehicles and railway applications.
As the world’s largest economies are decarbonising, deregulating, decentralising and digitalising their energy sectors, it is imperative that South Africa, as a trading partner of these countries, also embraces this revolution to avoid hampering competitiveness and economic growth. An untransformed energy sector and resultant deindustrialisation will lead to persistently unsolved poverty, inequality and unemployment, which are systemic threats to society, says State-owned power utility Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter.
German materials handling equipment manufacturer Jungheinrich aims to use the KwaZulu-Natal Industrial Tech Expo (KITE) to break into the local market, increase its exposure in the region and build brand awareness. Durban has a price-sensitive market, and Jungheinrich is still busy establishing themselves in the region. Jungheinrich doubled their order intake in 2021 compared to the previous year, says Jungheinrich sales head Chad Short.
President Cyril Ramaphosa signalled his intention to reignite the underperforming Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan (ERRP) through a “comprehensive social compact” that he said labour, business and government would negotiate in the coming 100 days. Delivering his State of the Nation Address at the Cape Town City Hall, owing to the extensive damage caused to the Parliamentary buildings in January as a result of a fire that was deliberately lit, Ramaphosa said a “new consensus” was needed to address the immediate crisis facing the country, as well as to create conditions for long lasting stability and development.
Independent electricity retailer Earth & Wire has secured land and servitudes, executed the environmental studies and received environmental approval to build a 1 300 MW transmission substation close to Somerset East, in the Eastern Cape. It plans to start construction on the substation later this year, using a self-build option to ensure the energy from the generation assets can be evacuated to off-takers without facing delays in grid connection, the company says.
Development finance institution the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) has announced the availability of funding towards green economy development projects and programmes under the Green Fund. The Green Fund has been set up to contribute towards a range of goals in transitioning to a greener economy, including the financing of projects and programmes that reduce the impact on climate change, the institution says.
The South African Renewable Energy Master Plan’s emerging actions discussion document represents a significant opportunity to create new jobs and contribute to South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) through yearly production across the value chain, says renewable energy developer Nordex Energy South Africa.
Through implementing the plan, the country’s GDP is expected to receive up to a R182-billion a year boost, while the employment of 39 000 people would be required to deliver 2 600 MW of new renewable energy capacity a year by 2030.
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