Britain to accelerate its phase-out of coal-fired power stations

The UK government announced on Wednesday that the phasing out of the use of coal to generate electricity in Great Britain will be brought forward by a full year, to October 2024. (The only coal-fired power plant in Northern Ireland was already scheduled to close by 2024.) This is part of the British government’s programme to decarbonise the country’s electricity supply. To this end, it will introduce new legislation in Parliament as soon as practical. London is also urging all other countries to accelerate their phasing out of the use of coal for electricity generation.
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New learning hub aims to equip social practitioners to raise impact of IPP upliftment programmes

A new learning and innovation hub to develop the skills and knowledge of social-performance practitioners in South Africa’s renewable-energy sector has been officially launched. Known as the Initiative for Social Performance in Renewable Energy, or INSPIRE, the venture aims to improving the effectiveness and sustainability of the enterprise and socioeconomic development initiatives undertaken by independent power producers (IPPs).
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Hydropower important for storage, just transition to low-carbon electricity – IEA

Hydropower’s role in achieving a clean energy transition and in supporting the faster expansion of solar and wind generation capacity, is undervalued, the International Energy Agency’s (IEA’s) inaugural ‘Hydropower Special Market’ report states. Hydropower has a key role in the transition to clean energy not only through the massive quantities of low-carbon electricity it produces, but also because of its unmatched capabilities for providing flexibility and storage. Many hydropower plants can ramp their electricity generation up and down very rapidly compared with other power plants such as nuclear, coal and natural gas, the IEA says.
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Biggest China bank walks away from $3bn Zimbabwe coal plan

China’s biggest bank has dumped plans to fund a $3-billion coal-fired power plant in Zimbabwe, in a blow to a two-decade effort to develop the project, according to a coalition of 32 environmental groups. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China told Go Clean ICBC, which includes environmental activist group 350.org, that it wouldn’t fund the 2 800 MW Sengwa coal project that RioEnergy, a unit of RioZim, is seeking to develop in Northern Zimbabwe.
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Zimbabwe faces lengthy power outages after surge hits plants

Zimbabwe faces prolonged power outages after a surge in electricity imports from neighboring South Africa overloaded its network and caused generating plants to fail, Energy Minister Soda Zhemu said. The surge caused a nationwide blackout in the early hours of Monday, as it affected output at the Kariba hydropower plant and the coal-fired Hwange facility, Zhemu said by phone from the capital, Harare.
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Progressive moves to ban organic waste from landfills seen as key driver of South African …

Legislation curtailing and, ultimately, banning the diversion of organic waste to municipal landfills is expected to support the development of South Africa’s biogas industry, which remains nascent with only 28 such projects having be built and commissioned to date. South Africa National Waste Management Strategy of 2020 sets a long-term goal of ‘zero waste’ to landfills and includes targets of lowering waste diversions to landfills by 45% within five years, 55% in 10 years and 70% in 15 years.
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South Africa’s reliance on Inga 3 hydropower project ‘a grave risk’, organisations warn

Civil society organisations International Rivers and WoMin African Alliance have published a report that they say provides, for the first time, an independent and authoritative account of the true cost of the Inga 3 hydropower project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for South Africa.   The report’s conclusions are “dire yet clear” in that offtaking hydropower from Inga 3 will be “too costly and an unmitigated disaster” for the country, the organisations state. South Africa intends to procure at least 2 500 MW of hydropower produced at Inga 3, but construction on that project has yet to start.
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SANEDI encourages consumers to save energy

Modified consumer behaviour and the implementation of energy-efficient solutions can reduce electricity demand, while also enabling South Africans to save money on their energy bill, says South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI) energy efficiency and corporate communications GM Barry Bredenkamp. Considering the constrained energy supply, every individual must play his or her part in reducing electricity use and help reduce the pressure on the national electricity grid, he says.
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Opinion: Does the new 100MW cap solve all our renewable-energy problems?

In this opinion article, Mike Roussos suggests that a new renewable-energy utility be established within the public sector to ensure that the State plays a direct role in establishing and guiding a new and cleaner energy dispensation for South Africa.
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Efficiency policies to mitigate the electricity crisis in South Africa, says SANEDI

The South African government is raising efficiency levels for high-consumption electrical products,  like street lights, in an effort to reduce the energy burden on the national grid, especially as State-owned utility Eskom continues to face constraints in supplying electricity. With experts recommending the country should brace for a protracted period of intermittent power cuts, or load-shedding, for at least another five years, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (MRE) and the South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI) are developing minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) for streetlights.
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