South Africa tests market appetite for creation of gas import hub at Coega

A request for information (RFI) has been issued to assess the implementation options and market appetite for the creation of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import hub at the Port of Ngqura, in the Eastern Cape. The RFI is designed as an information gathering exercise to inform a future procurement programme and a deadline of 12:00 on December 3 has been set for responses.
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Northern Cape-based 10 MW solar plant first to exploit broadened wheeling market

A 10 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant developed by renewable energy plant developer SOLA Group, in the Northern Cape, has reached commercial operation three months ahead of schedule, providing clean energy to Amazon Web Services through wheeling into the Eskom grid. The plant comprises over 24 000 bifacial single-axis sun-tracking modules, covering an area of 20 ha.
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City of Joburg makes ready to realise waste-to-energy projects

The City of Johannesburg is considering waste-to-power projects to generate electricity, particularly in times of load-shedding. Environment and Infrastructures Services deputy director Mvuselelo Mathebula mentions in a press statement that key projects have been lined up to divert waste from landfill sites by recycling and using it to generate electricity.
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Stage 2 load-shedding to start at 11:00, situation could worsen over the weekend

Stage 2 load-shedding will start at 11:00 on Friday, Eskom announced Three units at the Kendal power station were taken off and it is anticipated that the fourth and remaining unit will also be shut down. The conveyor belts supplying these units are currently not running due to a power fault.
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Exxaro is open for green business as it participates in COP26

Diversified miner Exxaro Resources, geared with both a Sustainable Growth and Impact Strategy and A Climate Change Response Strategy, hopes to garner investor interest at this year’s COP26 climate change summit.    The company has been setting out to become a principal driver of the just energy transition in South Africa over the past few years, all while targeting carbon neutrality by 2050.
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Amendments demand stringent compliance

With the new amendments to the Carbon Tax Act earmarked to pave the way for developing a national standard to approve offset carbon positive projects and administer these projects on a national database, Economic Development Solutions (EDS) head of business development Eckart Zollner says compliance by companies nationally is important to participate in global markets.
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Mobile e-air compressor suitable for niche markets

Given global demand for carbon-neutral products, industrial equipment manufacturer Atlas Copco Industrial Southern Africa is increasing its range of electric equipment, such as its mobile e-air compressor, says business line manager David Stanford.
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Funding Africa’s $2.8tr net-zero transition by 2050 a ‘pressing issue’

Funding Africa’s transition to net zero by 2050 is one of the most pressing issues that Africa and the world must address, PwC states in a new report that estimates the cost of such a transition to be about $2.8-trillion. The ‘Africa Energy Review 2021’ calculates that $33-billion would be required yearly between 2020 and 2030 to place Africa on a path to a net-zero energy mix by 2050. Yearly costs would then rise substantially to $111-billion between 2030 and 2040 and to $142-billion between 2040 and 2050.
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Ramaphosa says $8.5bn just transition partnership could become model for others

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the initial $8.5-billion to be mobilised over the next three to five years in support of South Africa’s just transition to a low-carbon economy, will facilitate the implementation of the country’s ambitious emission-reduction goals and develop a model for a just transition that could be used elsewhere. In a message to the COP26 Energy session held on November 4, Ramaphosa reiterated that South Africa required support to achieve its Nationally Determined Contribution targets, which would involve South Africa transforming its coal-dependent energy system at “unprecedented speed and scale”.
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Top-performing South African fund rides bet on energy stocks

South Africa’s top-performing equity fund has reaped the benefit of a wager that battered stocks, particularly in the energy sector, would flourish as economies rebounded from the worst of the pandemic. Blue Quadrant Capital Management’s Worldwide Flexible Prescient Fund has returned 125% this year, the most of any South African fund of at least 100 million rand ($6.5 million), and more than double its nearest rival. Additions made while Covid-19 ravaged markets in the first quarter of 2020 have proved key, said Leandro Gastaldi, who runs the R120-million portfolio.
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