Zambia’s State power utility Zesco had a total debt of $3.5 billion as at September 2021, Energy Minister Peter Kapala told parliament on Friday. He added that Zesco had made $400 million in loses between 2018 and 2019 owing to the depreciation of the local Kwacha currency.
South African banks say they have to keep funding at least some coal projects for now because an immediate halt would put huge political and economic strains on a nation that relies on the most polluting of fossil fuels. The top four banks have started to withdraw financing, with Nedbank and FirstRand setting deadlines of 2025 and 2026 respectively to end funding for new thermal coal mines. Both have stopped lending to new coal-fired power plants.
In this opinion article, Standard Bank head of sustainable finance, wholesale clients Greg Fyfe and head of power, wholesale clients Rentia van Tonder write that Africa has no choice but to join the global drive toward limiting greenhouse-gas emissions; however, the continent must facilitate a just transition for the communities and individual workers who depend on coal and other fossil fuels for their livelihoods, and in a manner that recognises the deep energy poverty across African economies.
In terms of incorporating environment, social and governance (ESG) conscientiousness into business development models, South Africa, and the financial services sector in particular, has historically, and in recent times, been acknowledged as a global leader, law firm Pinsent Masons transactional services partner Chris Green said this week.
He spoke during a webinar hosted by Creamer Media on behalf of the law firm on corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs) in the age of net zero ambitions and ESG conscientiousness, on October 13.
The ‘Doubling of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Market’ initiative, driven by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) and the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association of South Africa (LPGSA), initiated in December 2019, is slowly gaining momentum after the inevitable impact of Covid-19 on industry as a whole. “The initiative aims to double the LPG market in the next five years as one of government’s interventions to secure electricity supply in South Africa,” says LPGSA MD Gadibolae Dihlabi.
Multinational gas and diesel power plant specialist Clarke Energy has secured the sale of two of gas engine manufacturer Innio Jenbacher’s biogas engines to ethanol distiller PressCane Limited, based in Chikhwawa, Malawi. The ethanol production site generates biofuel in the form of ethanol, which is blended with petrol and sold by oil marketing companies to motorists throughout Malawi.
Multinational conglomerate General Electric Company (GE) Gas Power strategy & growth director Michael Konadu tells Mining Weekly that although there is no one solution to decrease South Africa’s carbon footprint, gas-to-power will be integral in the mix. He explains that South Africa’s Just Energy Transition must incorporate renewable energy, storage and importantly the use of gas.
With liquefied natural gas (LNG) expected to grow exponentially over the next five years, owing to the global drive to greener power generation, diverse consulting service provider Synergy Oil & Gas Consulting & Training senior energy manager Ismaeel Fataar says now is the time to upskill workers to keep up with international skills and technological developments. “South Africa currently relies heavily on Mozambique for the supply of LNG, but with training and the correct infrastructure developments in the sector, South Africa can attain supply independence.”
Tariffs and the legal framework governing the wheeling of electricity from independent power producers (IPPs), which are taking advantage of the recently declared 100 MW licence threshold, will be key factors in IPPs’ ability and willingness to feed surplus power into regional and national power grids, according to experts who spoke at a Nedbank Energy Dialogue on September 30. Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe gazetted an amendment to Schedule 2 of the Electricity Regulation Act on August 19, following a directive from President Cyril Ramaphosa earlier this year, to increase to 100 MW the licensing threshold for private power producers, as part of government’s effort to reduce load-shedding.
Industrial equipment supplier Actum Group has recently supplied its Ball-Lok cable ties for installation of cable management solutions at one of the largest solar plants in South Africa.
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