The 128 MW Oya Energy hybrid project, which will combine variable renewables and batteries to produce dispatchable electricity daily between 5:00 and 21:30 for injection into South Africa’s loadshedding-prone grid, reached financial close on Tuesday, February 13. The project was named as a preferred bidder for a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) under South Africa’s Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP), which was launched as a so-called emergency procurement round in 2020 for some 2 000 MW.
South Africa produced its inaugural official gauge of the carbon intensity of its electricity production, confirming its status as one of the world’s top producers per capita of greenhouse gases. The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and he Environment this month said that the country’s domestic generation grid emission factor (DGGEF) a measure of the carbon intensity of electricity produced in the country, is 1.013 tons of carbon dioxide or its equivalent per megawatt hour. The department used 2021 data.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) is launching a programmeme to secure the supply of minerals critical to energy security, as demand rises fast while manufacturing remains in the hands of a few key producers, its executive director said on Tuesday. Fatih Birol said the production of electric cars, solar panels and other energy equipment requires a steady supply of minerals such as lithium, cobalt and copper.
Hino South Africa (SA) will this year double the energy output from the solar roof panel project at its truck assembly plant in Durban, says VP Anton Falck. “Currently the roof panels provide 600 kWp. A further 800 kWp will be added by the middle of the year as a further 6 600 m2 of roofing is covered with solar panels.
The recent extension of the deadline for responses to the draft Integrated Resource Plan 2023 (IRP 2023) presents an opportunity to incorporate the vision presented by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his State of the Nation Address (SoNA) for more renewable energy, the South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) asserts. Minerals Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe announced a month-long extension to the public comment period to March 23 in a recent speech to the Mining Indaba but without committing to public hearings.
The City of Cape Town is now enabling households to earn cash for the power generated from their solar photovoltaic generation systems. Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis says a first round of applications will close on March 8 for households to earn cash from selling their excess solar power to the city, beyond the existing automatic crediting of municipal bills.
Eskom says the Electricity Pricing Determination Rules (EPDR) approved by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) in December cannot be implemented for the 2025/26 financial year as proposed by the regulator, owing to the time it takes to prepare, adjudicate and approve such applications. In addition, the utility has questioned whether the rules are implementable at all given how far they deviate from established standards used globally for determining electricity tariffs. Following a period of public consultation, Nersa approved the EPDR late last year. These tariffs are applicable for all licensees providing electricity to customers.
Power utility Eskom plans to downgrade loadshedding to Stage 3 from 05:00 on Tuesday. This will be followed by Stage 4 loadshedding from 16:00 on Tuesday to 05:00 on Wednesday. This pattern will be repeated until further notice.
Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has move to defend the statement made by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his State of the Nation Address (SoNA) on Thursday night that “the end of loadshedding is finally within reach”. This, despite South Africa rapidly descending into Stage 6 loadshedding only hours after the conclusion of the speech and the prospect of ongoing high levels of power disruptions until at least Wednesday. Speaking as a hastily convened briefing – moved to Sunday instead of the Monday morning initially scheduled for the Minister’s regular update on the implementation of the Energy Action Plan – Ramokgopa refused to accept that the President’s statement had caused any embarrassment.
Business stakeholders agree that President Cyril Ramphosa was right to emphasise economic reforms in his State of the Nation Address (SoNA) on February 8, as these are critical to turning around the country’s dire economic performance and unemployment. Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA), for one, appreciates the President acknowledging the private sector’s role in supporting the National Electricity Crisis Committee and the National Logistics Crisis Committee; however, the organisation says it wanted clear indications of how blockages would be overcome to improve confidence that reform momentum will be maintained.
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