Consultancy releases comprehensive map of Southern Africa Power Pool

Consultancy AmaranthCX has published a new electronic map of the electricity infrastructure in countries that are part of the Southern Africa Power Pool (SAPP) for use with Google Earth or Google Maps.

The map geolocates 317 operating power stations across the 11 member countries of SAPP, as well as substations and transmission and distribution lines.

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Eskom says some industrial customers require ‘urgent’ assistance, but urges targeted subsidies

Eskom has acknowledged that urgent interventions are needed to assist certain large industrial customers, some of which are competing with international companies whose electricity is subsidised, to navigate the transition to cost-reflective electricity tariffs. In a presentation on the third day of public hearings into the State-owned utility’s 2022/23 allowable revenue application, CFO Calib Cassim said that the country needed to assist industry to remain sustainable, as retaining such operations was critical from an economic perspective.
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NPA steps in as Optimum Coal Terminal interdict falls away

The Johannesburg High Court has declined to grant a declaratory order sought by directors of the Gupta-linked Tegeta Exploration and Resources to prevent business rescue practitioners from progressing the rescue of Optimum Coal Terminal. The judgment, handed down on Tuesday, has, however, immediately sparked an engagement between the business rescue practitioners of the Terminal and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), which has threatened to seek another interdict if talks fail.
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30 heavily armed suspects kill Eskom security guard during cable theft incident

An Eskom security officer has been shot dead in Soweto. Around 30 heavily armed suspects shot at the officer and six of his colleagues on Tuesday, 11 January during an alleged attempt to steal copper cable outside the Eskom Klipspruit Customer Network Centre (CNC) in Soweto.
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Eskom sustains 20.5% request despite big updates to cost assumptions

State-owned electricity producer Eskom has submitted major updates to the cost assumptions included in its latest allowable revenue application but has nevertheless sustained its request for a 20.5% tariff hike for its upcoming 2022/23 financial year. In a presentation delivered on the second day of National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) public hearings on the application, CFO Calib Cassim said the updates reflected changes that had arisen subsequent to its initial submission, which was made on June 2 last year.
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Investec to offer private bank clients solar-power financing

Investec plans to offer its private banking clients funding to install solar panels and battery storage systems in homes, bolstering its own green credentials and providing a power solution in a country regularly hit by electricity outages. The offering, which follows a pilot programme for 1 000 customers in South Africa, will allow clients to tap unutilized home-loan facilities or have money re-advanced to them to put in place the systems that can cost about $10 000, or significantly more depending on the size of the property.
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Brazil takes first step towards expanding its nuclear generation capacity

Brazil has begun the process of identifying new sites for new nuclear power plants. The first step was the recent signing of a cooperation agreement between the federal Ministry of Mines and Energy and the Centre for Electric Energy Research (acronymed to Cepel, in Portuguese). Brazil has one of the lowest carbon electricity generation systems in the world. This is the result of its very heavy dependence on hydroelectricity, which stood at 80% for many years. But by 2018 this figure had declined to 65%, entirely as a result of changes in rainfall patterns. Brazil thus needs to diversify its generation capacity while retaining its low level of carbon emissions.
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Calls for renewables rises as scrutiny increases on corporate power use – Wood Mackenzie

Flush with opportunity and the capital needed to move investment and merger and acquisition (M&A) strategies forward as the rush to decarbonise the global energy system heightens, corporate power and renewables companies need to prepare for rising near-term risk, says consultancy group Wood Mackenzie. The company says decarbonisation is the lynchpin of the global strategy to meet the 1.5 °C warming scenario influencing companies’ planning.
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Opinion: Localisation – beware unintended consequences

The growing consensus that localisation is some sort of silver bullet that will solve our economic and job creation woes is misplaced, writes Duferco Steel Processing MD Ludovico Sanges, adding that localisation policy needs to be carefully calibrated to drive economic growth and not simply favour market incumbents.
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Affordability concerns come to fore as Eskom outlines case for 20.5% hike

State-owned electricity utility Eskom has again insisted that its 2022/23 allowable revenue application, together with already approved regulatory clearing account (RCA) determinations, will translate to a hike of 20.5% in the standard tariff from April 1 if granted in full by the regulator. Speaking during the first day of public hearings into the single-year application, being adjudicated in line with a recent court judgment, Eskom CFO Calib Cassim said that the application did not include several other amounts that might be due to Eskom, but which had not yet been confirmed by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) or settled through court processes.
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