The five steps Meridian says South Africa should take in the next 500 days to future-proof …

Specialist economics advisory group Meridian Economics has outlined five practical actions that could be taken in the next 500 days to address South Africa’s immediate electricity crisis and position the broader energy sector for future sustainability and climate resilience. In a briefing note prepared for the Capacity Building Programme for Employment Promotion Colloquium, hosted this week by the Government Technical Advisory Centre and funded by the European Union, authors Dr Grové Steyn, Celeste Renaud and Lonwabo Mgoduso argue that the five actions would “jump-start South Africa’s journey to a 21st century  energy sector” and open the way for a myriad of new industrial and employment opportunities.
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Germany’s KfW launches green hydrogen programme for South Africa

On behalf of the German government, the German development bank KfW has initiated a programme of up to €200-million in size to support the establishment of green hydrogen projects in South Africa and it intends releasing a formal request for information (RFI) by the end of June. The funding, which is in the form of concessional loan finance, must be disbursed by December 2023 and KfW has appointed the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Meridian Economics to help it identify and evaluate high-potential projects for implementation during the course of this year.
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Eskom declares wage dispute with unions – spokesperson

State-owned power utility Eskom has declared a dispute over wages with labour unions after the two sides failed to reach an agreement on pay increases, its spokesperson said on Wednesday. Eskom said it made a final offer of 1.5% increase in the basic salary, which unions rejected.
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Two solar power plants in Senegal start operations

Two solar photovoltaic (PV) plants, with a combined capacity of 60 MW and located in Kael and Kahone, in Western Senegal, launched operations in May. The plants were financed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the European Investment Bank and French development finance institution Proparco, under the World Bank Group’s Scaling Solar programme.
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Business appetite for alternative energy solutions increasing

Companies in South Africa should consider investing in alternative energy solutions to minimise business interruptions while managing the cost of electricity, especially given the country’s challenges with load-shedding, which negatively impacts on businesses, FNB Business Alternative Energy Solutions head Kyle Durham tells Engineering News. Durham says load-shedding, increasing energy costs and climate change are the three drivers behind South African businesses pursuit of cost-effective, renewable energy solutions.
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South Africa says DNG’s challenge to power award ‘without merit’

South Africa said a legal challenge to its award of a power supply contract worth an estimated R218-billion by DNG Energy was “without merit” and “self serving.” In his answering affidavit to DNG’s demand to be named as a preferred bidder in an emergency power round, the head of the country’s Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme Office said DNG’s bids were disqualified because they were inadequate.
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Stage 2 load-shedding to continue until Friday evening

Stage 2 load-shedding will continue to be implemented until Friday evening, State-owned power utility Eskom confirms.

This is owing to further breakdowns of generating units at the Majuba and Arnot power stations and delays with returning units to service at the Arnot and Tutuka power stations.

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Renewables to take lion’s share of energy investment in 2021, but still falling short of …

Renewables projects are expected to account for 70% of a record $820-billion in new power generation investment in 2021, as global electricity deployments exceed those of oil and gas for the sixth year in a row. Nevertheless, a new International Energy Agency (IEA) report warns that energy investments, while recovering from the Covid-linked slump of 2020, continue to fall well short of a net-zero emissions pathway.
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Solar energy to supply 70% of Chryso factory’s electricity requirement

Cement additives manufacturing company Chryso Southern Africa has installed a solar electricity generating system at its Jet Park premises, in Gauteng. The system will generate almost 240 MWh/y, says Chryso Southern Africa CEO Norman Seymore.
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Regulator to make decision on Eskom’s latest R8.4bn RCA claim by end-August

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has published a new regulatory clearing account (RCA) application from Eskom, through which the State-owned utility is seeking to recoup R8.4-billion in cost and revenue variances for the 2019/20 financial year. The application is the first made under the fourth multiyear price determination period (MYPD4), which governs electricity tariffs for the three financial years from 2019/20 to 2021/22.
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