Bidding for renewables finally opens as powership-heavy ‘emergency’ projects are unveiled

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe released the names of the eight preferred bidders – including three powership projects – selected as part of government’s 2 000-MW ‘emergency’ procurement programme and also launched the much-anticipated fifth bid window (BW5) for the procurement of new wind and solar. However, he resisted growing calls for a raising of the licence-exemption threshold for distributed projects at mines, smelters, factories and farms from 1 MW to 50 MW, indicating instead that the cap would be increased to only 10 MW. This despite arguments that a liberalisation of South Africa’s convoluted licencing regime was the cheapest and quickest way to unlock at least 5 000 MW of new capacity within five years.
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34 South African cities join global move towards setting renewables targets

A new international report shows that 34 South African cities, in which some 15.3-million people live and work, had adopted renewable-energy targets and/or policies by the end of 2020, with Cape Town, eThekwini, Johannesburg and Tshwane having also announced official net-zero targets. The ‘Renewables in Cities Global Status Report’, published by REN21 on March 18, also shows that these South African cities are part of an international trend, with more than 1 300 cities globally having also adopted renewable-energy targets and/or policies by the end of last year.
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AfDB funds $530m Angola electricity project to expand renewable energy, regional connectivity

Development finance institution the African Development Bank (AfDB) has committed $530-million to finance the construction of a 343 km, 400 kV central-south transmission line that will connect the north and south transmission grids in Angola and allow for the distribution of clean energy between the two regions. The north of Angola has a surplus of more than 1 000 MW of mostly renewable power, whereas the south relies on expensive diesel generators, supported by government subsidies.
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Wescoal delivers first own coal sales from Moabsvelden

JSE-listed Wescoal has delivered the first coal from its Moabsvelden mine, in Delmas, Mpumalanga, to power utility Eskom. “The operationalisation of the Moabsvelden project under a difficult operating economic environment represents a significant milestone in the history of Wescoal, since the acquisition of Keaton Energy Holdings in 2017.
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Green hydrogen could help South Africa increase its energy exports

South Africa has traditionally been a net importer of energy, but a relatively new clean technology could be pivotal in helping South Africa become an exporter and dramatically cut the country’s carbon emissions, says Rand Merchant Bank (RMB). RMB CEO James Formby says that although green hydrogen is yet to be widely adopted around the world, it is one of several potential low-carbon fuels that could take the place of today’s fossil fuels.
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Local lithium-ion batteries to help businesses manage load-shedding

Local residential and commercial lithium-ion battery company iG3N has designed a battery storage solution to enable businesses to store and use energy. The solution is designed with a lifespan of ten years, says iG3N co-founder Tumi Mphahlele.
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Western Cape names candidate municipalities to be primed for direct IPP procurement

Six Western Cape municipalities, as well as the City of Cape Town, have been named by Western Cape Finance and Economic Opportunities Minister David Maynier as candidates to participate in the first phase of the province’s Municipal Energy Resilience (MER) project. The MER initiative, which was unveiled in 2020, has been established to enable the development of municipal energy projects in the province in line with recent changes to the country’s energy regulations, empowering municipalities to purchase energy directly from independent power producers (IPPs) and/or to develop their own generation facilities.
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Nersa’s electricity division seeks stakeholder input on strategic plan

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) will conduct a virtual public consultation workshop, from March 24 to 26, to solicit stakeholder input into the strategic plan of its electricity division. The workshop will seek specific input on the changes facing the electricity supply industry (ESI), its likely end state and what the risks and solutions could be as the ESI transitions to such an end state.
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We will get state-owned entities back into shape eventually, insists DPE

Deputy Minister of Public Enterprises Phumulo Masualle told Parliament on Tuesday afternoon that despite ongoing troubles at state-owned entities (SOEs) and delays in already announced plans to get them back in shape, the department still had a plan to improve the fortunes of beleaguered parastatals. Masualle was replying orally to questions from members of Parliament during a virtual plenary of the National Council of Provinces. He was a stand-in during the plenary for Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan.
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Schneider Electric partners with Minesto to roll out Minesto marine energy solutions

Energy management and automation multinational Schneider Electric has signed a memorandum of understanding with marine energy technology company Minesto to develop and build ocean energy farms based on Minesto’s Deep Green technology. The companies will jointly identify, assess and develop projects, ranging from smaller microgrid installations to multimegawatt farms, as well as exploit their existing pipelines of leads. The collaboration will include technical system integration and project management, as well as sales and project finance opportunities.
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