Globeleq-Sturdee consortium selected as preferred bidder for eSwatini solar PV projects

Independent power generation company Globeleq and renewable energy independent power producer (IPP) Sturdee Energy Southern Africa have been awarded preferred bidder status for two 15 MW projects in the first tranche eSwatini’s procurement programme for new renewable generation capacity. Globeleq says it welcomes the opportunity to support the Eswatini Energy Regulatory Authority strategy to increase domestic power generation and reduce reliance on imported power.
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Independent study confirms passive cooling benefits

State-owned energy research organisation the South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI) on April 22 said the results of an independent study of two sites in KwaZulu-Natal have confirmed the benefits of passive cooling, also called cool surfaces. This has further motivated SANEDI to continue promoting cool surfaces as an energy-efficient alternative to mechanical heating, ventilation and air conditioning.
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WHO warns Africa not to let its guard down amid pandemic

The World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Director for Africa Dr Matshidiso Moeti has encouraged African countries to sustain Covid-19 prevention measures and urged countries not to let their guards down as the world races to vaccinate their populations. Moeti said on Thursday that despite the challenges and stories circulating about the vaccine, people must have confidence in the WHO guidance.
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Nedbank makes pioneering ‘zero fossil-fuel exposure by 2045’ pledge

South Africa’s Nedbank Group released an ambitious new energy policy on April 22, containing a commitment to reduce its exposure to all fossil fuels to zero by 2045, as well as a pledge to halt all new thermal coal-mine financing by January 1, 2025. Simultaneously, Nedbank said it would scale up its renewable-energy commitments, announcing a target for R2-billion-worth of embedded-generation financing by 2022, in addition to the R50-billion limits already committed to South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme, which resumed this month following a seven-year interruption.
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Exxaro climate change specialist appointed vice-chair of industry task team

Diversified miner Exxaro Resources has elected the group’s climate change specialist Dr Lerato Khumalo as vice-chairperson for the Industry Task Team on Climate Change (ITTCC). The voluntary, nonprofit association comprises several local energy-intensive companies across different business sectors, including the likes of Exxaro, Sasol and Anglo American, which will collaborate to reduce South Africa’s carbon footprint.
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WEF says sustained incremental progress, resilience important for energy transition

As countries continue their progress in transitioning to clean energy, global economic body the World Economic Forum (WEF) says it is critical over the next decade to root the transition in economic, political and social practices to ensure progress is irreversible. The energy transition requires a full transformation of the global energy, economic and social system, beginning now, as the next decade is crucial to delivering on climate goals, it states.
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Opinion: South Africa’s wind energy sector has role to play in reaching a net zero carbon economy

In this article, South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) CEO Ntombifuthi Ntuli writes about the South African wind energy sector’s role on the road to a net zero carbon economy by 2050. Following the release of the Global Wind Energy Council’s ‘Global Wind Report 2021’, the buzz in the sector is around reaching net zero carbon economies. This is not surprising as the council’s annual flagship dossier sets the tone in preparation for the 2021 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s twenty-sixth Conference of Parties, also known as COP26, and highlights wind power’s role on the road to net zero carbon economy by 2050.
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Civil society calls for public hearings on RMIPPPP

Civil society organisations are calling for public hearings into the decision by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) to include projects by Karpowership among the preferred bidders for the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producers (RMIPPP). Environmental justice organisation the Green Connection says it has been very vocal, adding its voice to the public outcry, amid concerns about the choice of emergency power, which will see South Africa tied to fossil fuels for another 20 years.
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Clean, affordable energy still not accessible to the poor

The transformative role of clean, safe and affordable energy in reducing poverty and inequality, and in improving the quality of life of poor South African households as envisaged in the 1998 Energy White Paper, has failed to materialise to any significant degree, says State institution and research developer Public Affairs Research Institute (Pari) senior researcher Dr Tracy Ledger.

In the second working paper on energy and society, she reveals that the overwhelming reason for this failure is the collapse of energy policy and governance, and the absence of effective oversight of how local municipalities have actually delivered energy services to households.

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Carbon emissions set to surge in 2021 as coal rebound eclipses record renewables growth

Global energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions could surge by 1.5-billion tonnes in 2021 to 33-billion tonnes, reversing most of last year’s decline caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, as rebounding coal demand in the electricity sector more than offsets record renewables deployments. This forecast is made in a new International Energy Agency (IEA) report, which states that the expected 5% increase in CO2 emissions will represent the biggest yearly increase since 2010 and the second largest in history.
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