Settling on funding solutions for expedited grid infrastructure set as a Just Energy Transition …

Finalising funding solutions for the expedited expansion of South Africa’s electricity transmission grid has been identified as a key priority for the Just Energy Transition (JET) project management unit (PMU), which is located within the Presidency. The unit is overseeing the implementation of the country’s JET Investment Plan (JET-IP), which was approved in 2022 with the goal of stimulating R1.5-trillion (about $80-bilion) in clean electricity, new energy vehicles and green-hydrogen investments, while also supporting workers and communities whose lives and livelihoods will be made vulnerable by the transition.
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Sasol prioritising coal de-stoning investment as it seeks to allay fears over big Secunda output dip

Energy and chemicals group Sasol has moved to address investor concerns that its yearly production at Secunda will need to fall to only 6.7-million tons for it to meet its goal of reducing the carbon-heavy Mpumalanga complex’s greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030. Delivering his final results presentation, outgoing CEO Fleetwood Grobler insisted that the 6.7-million tons output profile announced in August represented the “low road” production scenario that emerged following a review of its emission roadmap once the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) was eliminated as a plausible feedstock for Secunda.
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Enel Green Power signs large-scale South Africa commercial renewable energy deal

Renewable energy company Enel Green Power South Africa has signed three long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) with industrial gases company Air Liquide South Africa and energy and chemicals company Sasol to supply 330 MW of renewable energy to Sasol’s Secunda site, where Air Liquide operates its large-scale oxygen production facility. Enel Green Power and sovereign wealth fund the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) jointly own Enel Green Power South Africa.
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Cape Town pays out more than R25m in Cash for Power programme

The City of Cape Town says businesses and households have earned more than R25.8-million under the city’s Cash for Power programme since the start of the 2022/23 financial year. This comes after the city started to buy excess solar photovoltaic power from small-scale generators in exchange for municipal bill credits and cash.
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Ramokgopa says govt close to finalising structure for private grid financing

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says all the work being done by government on the financial structure to facilitate private investment into the country’s transmission infrastructure is being consolidated under his Ministry, including the work being done on the issue by the National Treasury and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). This confirmation follows an announcement in the National Treasury’s Budget Review that a request for proposals will be released by the end of July for a pilot project involving “off-balance-sheet financing to accelerate private-sector investment in transmission, without negatively affecting Eskom’s balance sheet and the fiscus”.
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Another 124 power plants registered with Nersa raising total to 1 087 since 2018

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) reports that a further 124 generation facilities were registered during the third quarter of its financial year from October to December, increasing the number of facilities registered since 2018 to 1 087. The newly registered generators have a combined capacity of 605 MW and a collective investment value of R7.8-billion.
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Eskom eschews $2.5bn of cheap loans as climate pact founders

South Africa’s State power utility has failed to tap $2.5-billion of cheap loans to build critical transmission infrastructure that would help end the country’s crippling energy crisis. That’s brought a landmark climate finance agreement — the Just Energy Transition Partnership — to a virtual halt, and extends the country’s reliance on coal plants. Finance ministry pressure on Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. to not take on new debt and a lack of clarity on how private investors can participate are hindering the deployment of about $7-billion of energy financing, according to a US Treasury official and six other people familiar with the situation.
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Funding agreement confirmed for technology roll-out

Technology developer, licensed technologies supplier and joint venture project developer Conflow Power Group (CPG) confirms the final agreement of $250-million funding from Cede Bank. The transaction resulted from 18 months of detailed analysis and structural discussions to establish the value and potential revenue for all exclusive territories issued under licence for Conflow’s iLamp technology, primarily within continental US.
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Lighting system advances energy efficiency

Luminaire manufacturer BEKA Schréder’s wireless control system Schréder ITERRA offers a wireless control solution for lighting applications, providing a “robust, cost-effective and futureproof platform” for customers to manage their infrastructure to adapt the lighting while maximising energy savings. The solution is based on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), the wireless communication standard fully compatible with all recent smart devices, including phones and tablets.
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Eskom insists downward EAF slide has been ‘arrested’ amid Stage 4 loadshedding

Eskom insists the performance of its unreliable generation fleet is on an improving trajectory, releasing a graphic-heavy statement on February 22 disputing a recent report stating that its performance continued “going backwards”. The statement, which was published only hours after loadshedding was ramped up to Stage 4, also asserts the decline in the generation fleet’s energy availability factor (EAF), which has fallen consistently for the past six years, has been arrested.
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