The Competition Tribunal has unconditionally approved two mergers, by the same acquiring firm in the renewable energy sector after determining that both transactions are unlikely to substantially prevent or lessen competition in any relevant market, or have a negative impact on the public interest.
The acquiring firm – Revego Africa Energy Fund Partnership, a limited partnership, represented by Revego General Partner (RF) in its capacity as general partner – is a South African company.
Former Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies is urging the South African government, in which he served as a Cabinet Minister from 2009 to 2019, to implement a New Deal-style recovery programme to address the economic damage arising from both Covid-19 and more than a decade of economic drift. Speaking during a recent virtual launch of his new book, Davies cautioned that a retreat to austerity could result in a long and politically destabilising period of stagnation. The recovery effort, he said, had to be of a scale commensurate with the economic damage inflicted by the pandemic to avoid widening inequality and a deepening of poverty.
As resource assessment continues to be a challenge in renewable energy project development processes, the extensive research in resource data and improved modelling approaches have led to the development of better high-resolution resource data, the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) says.
Irena will launch its Global Atlas for Renewable Energy 4.0 on May 31, which serves as a free online resource data repository and assessment platform.
Finance institution the African Development Bank Group and the government of Tanzania have signed loan agreements totalling $140-million to finance the construction of the 50 MW Malagarasi hydropower plant in Western Tanzania. The agreements cover a $120-million sovereign loan from the bank and $20-million from the Africa Growing Together Fund (AGTF), which is administered by the bank.
The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) has announced the successful testing of a new concept on its MAST Upgrade experiment, which could remove one of the major problems in the development of nuclear fusion energy. Currently, the world derives nuclear power from fission, which involves, to simplify, the ‘splitting’ of atoms. Fusion would generate nuclear power by smashing atoms together (which is what happens in stars and which gives them their energy). A major problem is the removal of …
South Africa’s plans to buy emergency power, already the subject of a court challenge, face fresh controversy after a local-content requirement for solar-panel frames was scrapped subsequent to the award of the tenders. The 65% local-content requirement on aluminium frames for photovoltaic panels was waived by South Africa’s Department of Trade, Industry and Competition on May 12. That followed an application by ARTsolar, which along with a local unit of China’s Seraphim Solar will be the only beneficiaries of the exemption.
Four vastly different energy transition scenarios, from very ambitious to the least ambitious, were posited by management advisory Africa International Advisors integrated energy practice leader Henry Gilfillan this week. The four scenarios, presented during a webinar on hydrogen, gas and renewables on May 26, included one in which the energy status quo, especially in South Africa, changes little.
South Africa’s cash-strapped State companies may struggle to refinance their debts, requiring the government to provide support, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said. The ten most-indebted State firms have an estimated R289.9-billion in loans maturing by the end of March 2025, Mboweni said in a written reply to a parliamentary question. Those include power utility Eskom Holdings, which has R401-billion in liabilities and has already received several bail-outs.
Business organisation the National Employers’ Association of South Africa (Neasa), in its comments on the proposed amendments to Schedule 2 of the Electricity Regulation Act (ERA), called for the liberalisation of electricity generation up to 50 MW. It also called for wheeling and for definitions to be updated to clarify renewable plus storage project limits.
South Africa’s renewable-energy procurement programme, which finally resumed again on April 12 following a seven-year disruption, continues to attract strong interest with some 600 people, including representatives from over 300 registered bidders, participating in a virtual bidders conference on Wednesday convened to focus on the qualifying criteria for participation in the fifth bid window. Besides attracting over 580 South African participants, including representatives from the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa and Eskom, the conference was also attended by delegates from Egypt, India, Germany, France, Italy, Korea, Japan, China, Singapore, Russia, Ireland and Norway.
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