World Bank is supporting the rollout of Distributed Renewable Energy in Africa, globally

Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE) was going to be essential to achieve the goal of universal access to energy by 2030, both in Africa and globally. So highlighted World Bank Energy Sector Management Assistance Programme Lead Energy Specialist Raihan Elahi, on Wednesday. He was addressing a session of the Africa Energy Indaba, in Cape Town. “We’re really off track” regarding achieving universal access to energy by 2030, he pointed out. Worldwide, in 2020, 675-million people still had no access to electricity, while in 2021, 2.3-billion people had no access to clean cooking methods. These shortfalls existed against a background of increased vulnerability to climate shocks.
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New fund to finance cross-border electricity transmission in Southern Africa

The Southern African Power Pool’s (SAPP’s) Regional Transmission Infrastructure Financing Facility (RTIFF) will be managed by climate-focused blended finance fund manager Climate Fund Managers (CFM), it was jointly announced on Tuesday, on the fringes of the 2024 Africa Energy Indaba, in Cape Town. The RTIFF, developed by the SAPP in partnership with the Southern African Development Community (SADC), aims to raise $1.3-billion to finance improved electricity interconnection and cross-border …
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Real progress being made against loadshedding in recent months, says Energy Council CEO

The number of hours of loadshedding in South Africa has been cut by 67% over the past three-and-a-half months, Energy Council of South Africa CEO James MacKay highlighted on Monday evening. He was participating in an event in Cape Town, hosted by UK innovation agency Innovate UK, and UK International Development, ahead of the Africa Energy Indaba. Loadshedding was the South African term for rotating scheduled power cuts, due to lack of generating capacity, imposed by national electricity utility Eskom. One of the reasons for the significant reduction in loadshedding hours has been the secondment, by the business sector, of experienced engineers to Eskom power stations. Further, renewable energy capacity in the country has increased rapidly.
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Bid Window 8 the last under IRP 2019, nuclear ambitions not a pipe dream – Mantashe

Bid Window 8 of government’s Renewable Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme will be the last bid window under IRP 2019, says Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe. “We’ll then have issued all the bid windows provided for under IRP 2019.”
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Hitachi Energy, BluVein accelerate the electrification of heavy haul mining fleets through MoU

Global technology group Hitachi Energy and BluVein – an innovator in dynamic charging technology – have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to accelerate the electrification of heavy haul mining fleets. Hitachi Energy’s advanced power electronics and digital charging technologies allow BluVein’s electric rail (e-rail) charging technology to deliver electricity safely and reliably to haul trucks of up to 400 t while transporting materials. 
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Eskom says it is on track for permanent repair of Kusile stack by Dec

Eskom insists it is on track to complete the repairs to the ducts in the west stack at the Kusile power station by December 2024, ahead of the March 31, 2025, deadline set by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) when it last year authorised the use of temporary stacks that bypass the key pollution control system. The west stack was rendered inoperable when Kusile’s Unit 1 flue duct collapsed because of an uncontrolled build-up of slurry on October 23, 2022. The failure eliminated 2 100 MW of Kusile’s capacity from an already stretched system, as units 2 and 3’s flues, which share a stack or chimney with that of Unit 1, were also damaged by the collapse.
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Solar, battery, inverter imports surged to R70bn in 2023 as wind turbines recovered from …

South African imports of solar panels, lithium-ion batteries and inverters climbed to a record $3.8-billion last year, or about R70-billion, while imports of wind turbines began to recover following a two-year lull, analysis compiled by Trade & Industrial Policy Strategies senior economist Gaylor Montmasson-Clair shows. Imports in 2023 were double the $1.7-billion of 2022 and lifted the overall value of the three energy components imported over the ten years from 2014 to 2023 to above $10-billion.
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TNPA to appoint developer soon for common-user infrastructure required for LNG terminal

South Africa’s Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) expects to appoint a developer within months for the common-user infrastructure required to support the proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at the Port of Richards Bay, in KwaZulu-Natal. In January, the State-owned company announced that it had selected a consortium comprising Vopak and Transnet Pipelines to design, develop, construct, finance, operate, and maintain an LNG terminal in the South Dunes Precinct at the deep-water port for a period of 25 years.
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Assessment of Eskom coal fleet warns ‘fixation on the EAF is a dead end’

An expert assessment of the state of Eskom’s 14 coal-fired power stations conducted between March and May 2023 describes the prevailing “fixation” on the coal fleet’s energy availability factor (EAF) as a “dead end” that was leading to poorer plant performance. Conducted for the National Treasury by a Vgbe-led consortium, the report notes that outage and maintenance activities had been deferred over the last months and years to lift – or at least to maintain – the EAF.
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UK Hydrogen Week highlights green hydrogen investments

Following its inauguration last year, UK Hydrogen Week is taking place once again, from February 26 to March 3. The World Platinum investment Council says more than 6 300 individuals and 110 partners and supporters will be participating in the initiative, which aims to bring together stakeholders from across the UK to highlight the role of hydrogen in reaching the UK’s net-zero targets.
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