News – Transfix Transformers SA

Eskom risk premium falls as turnaround wins over bond investors

Eskom Holdings’s risk premium is dwindling as a turnaround at South Africa’s State-owned electricity company gathers momentum. The extra yield investors demand to take on the risk of holding the utility’s dollar debt without the benefit of a government guarantee narrowed to the lowest on record following the publication of the utility’s results on Thursday. And the yield premium over comparable US Treasuries is also at the lowest since the Eskom securities were issued in 2018.

December 20, 2024/by Engineering News

South Africa PV capacity increases 12% in 2024

South Africa's total solar PV capacity surged to 8.97 GW this year, which includes 2.8 GW from public procurement and 6.1 GW from private-sector contributions, 11.9% higher than in 2023. A further 375 MW of capacity is scheduled to come online in 2025.

December 20, 2024/by Engineering News

Eskom reports R25.5bn loss amid systemic challenges, recovery efforts

State-owned power utility Eskom has reported a R25.5-billion loss before tax for the financial year ending March 31, 2024, following a year marked by operational setbacks, financial strain and systemic inefficiencies. With 329 days of loadshedding and heavy reliance on costly open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs) during the 2024 financial year, along with escalating municipal debt, the utility continued to face persistent challenges while working towards recovery.

December 19, 2024/by Engineering News

Afreximbank signs private sector DRC hydropower project agreement

Trade and development finance institution the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has signed a project preparation facility financing agreement for an up to 200 MW private-sector, reservoir-based hydropower project to be located along the Lufira river, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The bank has partnered with independent power producer Kipay Investments, which will develop, design, build, install, commission and operate, as well as manage, the hydroelectric power plant.

December 19, 2024/by Engineering News

South Africa still in ‘foothills of economic recovery’ as fourth-quarter policy uncertainty …

South Africa is "still in the foothills of economic recovery" and, while external influences must still be skillfully navigated, the country's future economic performance will hinge mainly on domestic policy decisions that maintain a macroenvironment that is efficient, stable and consistent for investment and job-rich growth. This is the main message of the North-West University Business School’s Policy Uncertainty Index (PUI) for the fourth quarter, with the PUI unexpectedly rising much further into negative territory to 65.7, compared with 53.5 in the third quarter of the year, said NWU Business School Professor Raymond Parsons.

December 19, 2024/by Engineering News

Smoggy Sasolburg illustrates conflict between economy and clean air

From the moment Mpho Putsoenyane's daughter Hlompho was born in Zamdela, a South African township beside the smokestacks and gas flares of Sasol's oldest coal-to-liquid refinery, the baby struggled to breathe. Last year, when she was four months old, she turned purple and started gasping. Her parents rushed the baby to hospital, where medics only just revived her heart with a defibrillator, Putsoenyane recalls.

December 17, 2024/by Engineering News

Steinmüller Africa named contractor of the year for Kendal power station

The Steinmüller Africa Kendal Boilerserve team has been awarded the Eskom Kendal Power Station Contractor of the Year Award 2024.

This award demonstrates the company’s continued role as leaders in the steam generation plant service industry.

December 13, 2024/by Engineering News

Nine injured in transformer explosion at Matla power station

Nine people were injured at Eskom's Matla power station on December 12 when a transformer exploded, affecting Unit 6. As a precautionary measure, Unit 5 was also taken offline to ensure the safety of all employees and contractors on-site.

December 13, 2024/by Engineering News

GoSolr expresses concern about Eskom targeting solar users with higher tariffs

State-owned power utility Eskom has sparked debate with its latest tariff proposal, resulting in uncertainties for solar power users.

Solar energy company GoSolr co-founder Patrick Narbel points out that, although South Africa’s electricity system needs tariff reviews to ensure an efficient and fair energy system, there are risks with getting them wrong, including market distortion.

December 12, 2024/by Engineering News

100 MW Free State solar project represents IPP empowerment landmark

The selection of Pele Green Energy (PGE) to supply renewable energy to the South African ferrochrome smelters operated by the Glencore Merafe Venture represents an important milestone in the steady yet uneven evolution of South Africa’s electricity industry. Its significance is not immediately apparent, largely because the novelty of such multidecade power purchase agreements (PPAs) between electricity-intensive private firms and independent power producers (IPPs) has worn off somewhat three-and-a-half years after President Cyril Ramaphosa successfully twisted a reluctant Gwede Mantashe’s arm to enable such deals at scale.

December 12, 2024/by Engineering News

South Africa tests market appetite for Independent Transmission Projects ahead of pilot

South Africa has issued a request for information (RFI) to gauge the level of interest and readiness of industry to participate in Independent Transmission Projects (ITP) as it prepares to launch an ITP pilot tender in 2025. Described as a “sounding exercise”, the RFI has been unveiled jointly by the National Treasury and the Ministry of Electricity and Energy, and includes a deadline for responses of February 28.

December 11, 2024/by Engineering News

Eskom reiterates commitment to safeguarding infrastructure

State-owned power utility Eskom has welcomed the separate sentencing of two individuals for theft of cables near the Duvha power station, in Mpumalanga, and said it was committed to safeguarding the security and integrity of its critical infrastructure. The utility has welcomed the 15-year prison sentence handed down to one person for the March theft of copper cable from the Duvha power station's coal conveyor belt, as well as the five-year prison sentence handed down to another for the theft of aluminium cables near the power station. The sentences were handed down in October.

December 11, 2024/by Engineering News

Eskom provides update on coal plants where decommissioning has been delayed to 2030

State-owned electricity utility Eskom has provided some additional detail regarding the decision to continue operating 17 coal units across five power stations beyond their original decommissioning dates. The decision is in line with a May 23 determination by then Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy to allow Eskom to operate Hendrina, Grootvlei, Arnot, Camden and Kriel at existing minimum emission standards (MES) plant limits until March 31, 2030.

December 10, 2024/by Engineering News

Renewables covering area the size of Europe needed for clean energy future, report shows

A newly released report by technology and lifecycle solutions provider Wärtsilä shows that an area the size of Europe will need to be covered with renewable power to reach a clean energy future without the integration of balancing power technologies. Wärtsilä’s global power system modelling, published in the ‘Crossroads to net zero’ report, compares two pathways from 2025 to 2050 with the aim of reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and limiting global warming in alignment with the Paris Agreement targets.

December 10, 2024/by Engineering News

Minerals Council upbeat on South Africa’s electricity supply situation amid improved EAF

State-owned utility Eskom’s average energy availability factor (EAF) exceeded 60% for the seventh consecutive month in November. This milestone coincided with over 250 days without loadshedding and a significant reduction in open-cycle gas turbine (OCGT) use this year, industry organisation Minerals Council South Africa points out.

December 10, 2024/by Engineering News

Zimbabwe power users raise $250m for solar plan

Zimbabwe’s industrial power users have secured $250-million from the African Export-Import Bank to build floating solar panels at the world’s largest man-made lake. The Intensive Energy User Group, made up of mining companies including a former local unit of Rio Tinto and Mimosa, plan a 250 MW plant at the Kariba Dam to be implemented in 18 months, according to a copy of its presentation seen by Bloomberg. That can be expanded to 1 GW of solar capacity.

December 10, 2024/by Engineering News

Latest Industry News
Everything thats going on in terms of Electricity!

Eskom risk premium falls as turnaround wins over bond investors

South Africa PV capacity increases 12% in 2024

Eskom reports R25.5bn loss amid systemic challenges, recovery efforts

Afreximbank signs private sector DRC hydropower project agreement

South Africa still in ‘foothills of economic recovery’ as fourth-quarter policy uncertainty …

Smoggy Sasolburg illustrates conflict between economy and clean air

Steinmüller Africa named contractor of the year for Kendal power station

Nine injured in transformer explosion at Matla power station

GoSolr expresses concern about Eskom targeting solar users with higher tariffs

100 MW Free State solar project represents IPP empowerment landmark

South Africa tests market appetite for Independent Transmission Projects ahead of pilot

Eskom reiterates commitment to safeguarding infrastructure

Eskom provides update on coal plants where decommissioning has been delayed to 2030

Renewables covering area the size of Europe needed for clean energy future, report shows

Minerals Council upbeat on South Africa’s electricity supply situation amid improved EAF

Zimbabwe power users raise $250m for solar plan

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Latest Industry NewsEverything thats going on in terms of Electricity!

Eskom risk premium falls as turnaround wins over bond investors

South Africa PV capacity increases 12% in 2024

Eskom reports R25.5bn loss amid systemic challenges, recovery efforts

Afreximbank signs private sector DRC hydropower project agreement

South Africa still in ‘foothills of economic recovery’ as fourth-quarter policy uncertainty …

Smoggy Sasolburg illustrates conflict between economy and clean air

Steinmüller Africa named contractor of the year for Kendal power station

Nine injured in transformer explosion at Matla power station

GoSolr expresses concern about Eskom targeting solar users with higher tariffs

100 MW Free State solar project represents IPP empowerment landmark

South Africa tests market appetite for Independent Transmission Projects ahead of pilot

Eskom reiterates commitment to safeguarding infrastructure

Eskom provides update on coal plants where decommissioning has been delayed to 2030

Renewables covering area the size of Europe needed for clean energy future, report shows

Minerals Council upbeat on South Africa’s electricity supply situation amid improved EAF

Zimbabwe power users raise $250m for solar plan

INDUSTRY NEWS

WHERE TO FIND US

SOME OF OUR PRODUCTS

CALENDAR

Latest Industry News
Everything thats going on in terms of Electricity!