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Power utility Eskom says it has, in the interest of ensuring a fair administrative process, extended the deadline for the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA) notice issued previously to the City of Johannesburg and City Power by 30 days.  The public is, therefore, urged to make representations, submissions, comments and/or requests by July 17.
Global institutional fund manager A.P. Moller Capital has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of renewable-energy developer and independent power producer Mainstream Renewable Power South Africa. The transaction is subject to regulatory and other third-party approvals, and is being executed by A.P. Moller Capital-Emerging Markets Infrastructure Fund II (EMIF II) through a special purpose vehicle.
The Zululand Energy Terminal (ZET), which is aiming to build South Africa’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal at the Port of Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal, has signed heads of agreement with an ExxonMobil affiliate – a move that it says signals international market interest in supplying LNG to the country. It is the second heads of agreement signed by ZET this month, with the first signed on June 5 with Eskom.
Eskom’s Grid Access Unit (GAU) must be moved to the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA) as soon as possible, says Sola Group CEO Dom Wills. Speaking at a Webber Wentzel Power Breakfast held in Cape Town on Wednesday, Wills said the NTCSA essentially owned and managed South Africa’s power grid and access to the grid, yet the GAU remained within Eskom Holdings.
South Africa is closer than ever to getting gas-to-power projects off the ground, Eskom CEO Dan Marokane said on Tuesday, arguing that the country has a unique opportunity to use gas to strengthen energy security, support industrial growth and accelerate the expansion of renewable energy. Speaking at the Africa Energy Forum (AEF) in Cape Town, he said a combination of policy alignment, infrastructure planning and growing recognition of gas’s role in modern electricity systems had created conditions that were more favourable than in previous attempts to establish a gas-to-power industry.
Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has called for Africa to accelerate the implementation of cross-border electricity infrastructure by converting continental energy plans into bankable projects capable of attracting large-scale investment. Addressing the opening of the Africa Energy Forum (AEF) in Cape Town on Tuesday, Ramokgopa said the continent needed to accelerate implementation of the African 10-Year Infrastructure Investment Plan for cross-border interconnectivity, which is being advanced under South Africa’s G20 presidency.
The South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) expects to identify a partner within the next year for a planned demonstration small modular reactor (SMR), as it steps up efforts to revive local nuclear technology development and expand the country’s future nuclear generation capacity. CEO Loyiso Tyabashe said at the Africa Energy Forum in Cape Town on Tuesday that Necsa had already issued an expression of interest to the market and hoped to select a development partner “by this time next year”.
Civil society organisation the Johannesburg Crisis Alliance (JCA) says the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) has not provided information to residents and businesses about State-owned Eskom’s threatened interruption of electricity supply to the city. The public still has not been told the full nature of the dispute, CoJ’s obligations, the status of negotiations or what is being done to prevent a crisis.
South Africa’s energy sector has undergone a remarkable transformation, RMB senior investment banker for infrastructure sector solutions Keith Webb says. The country, once plagued by loadshedding, has seen a huge expansion in renewable-energy capacity.
Industry organisation the South African Photovoltaic Industry Association (SAPVIA) welcomes the establishment of State-owned renewable-energy utility Eskom Green, but calls for assurance that access to the limited grid capacity will be shared equitably by all independent power producers and players. The establishment of Eskom Green recognises that utility-scale renewable energy and energy storage will be central to delivering long-term energy security, supporting economic growth and attracting investment into the country’s energy infrastructure.