To unlock the estimated R235-billion in investment required to strengthen and expand the grid in a way that positions it to connect the 53 GW of new generation capacity that will be required by the early 2030s, a new consultation paper has been published making the case for South Africa to consider alternative funding models, including off-balance sheet financing. Titled ‘Better Finance, Better Grid’, the paper’s lead authors are Professor Mark Swilling and Erica Johnson, of the Centre for Sustainability Transitions (CST) at Stellenbosch University, and it has been published jointly by CST, the Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies and the Blended Finance Taskforce, with support from the Open Society Foundations.
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For South Africa to be energy secure by 2032, it needs to bring 53 GW of electricity into the energy system, which, in turn, requires 14 000 km of new transmission lines to be built in a decade.
The current transmission building capacity, however, is about 400 km/y, Stellenbosch University Centre for Sustainability Transitions junior researcher Alboricah Rathupetsane pointed out this week.
Investment solutions company Novare, which has a substantial property portfolio in Africa, on August 1 announced a significant investment in rooftop photovoltaic (PV) panels as an eco-friendly and renewable energy source to curb carbon emissions across its African property portfolio and strengthen its sustainability drive. The first phase of this solar project focuses on Matola Mall, one of Novare’s retail properties in Mozambique, in collaboration with renewable energy company Enteria Moçambique.
Eskom Holdings =has imposed conditions to access the national grid on 1 850 MW worth of projects in South Africa that developers including Karpowership and Electricite de France SA have struggled to complete since they were awarded in March 2021. The right to access the grid is “conditional based on the projects achieving certain milestones by December 2023,” Eskom said on Wednesday in a response to queries. “This is in line with Eskom’s objective to have projects connect to the grid as soon as possible and to discourage capacity hogging.”
Presidency, business call for expedited passage during current Parliamentary term of Bill overhauling electricity market The Presidency and organised business have called for the passage of the Electricity Regulation Amendment (ERA) Bill to be expedited within the sixth Parliament, following a meeting on August 1 to discuss the progress being made under a previously announced partnership to jointly tackle the country’s energy, transport, and crime and corruption crises.
American electricity utility Georgia Power on Monday announced that the first new nuclear power plant (NPP) built in the US in 30 years, Vogtle 3, had started commercial operation and was supplying electricity to consumers in the US State of Georgia. Vogtle 3 is a Westinghouse AP1000 pressurised water reactor. (Georgia Power is a subsidiary of the Southern Company, a group which holds a number of electricity and gas utilities across the southern US.) Vogtle 3 will have an operational life that will extend late into, and perhaps even to the end of, this century. At any given time, it be able to power approximately 500 000 homes and businesses.
Despite ongoing loadshedding, President Cyril Ramaphosa has moved to highlight some of the implementation progress under the Energy Action Plan (EAP), which marked its first anniversary in late July, including a doubling of rooftop solar installations. The President’s weekly newsletter coincided with the release of a one-year progress report on the EAP, which covers developments under the plan’s five pillars, which include: fixing Eskom and improving the availability of existing supply; enabling and accelerating private investment in generation capacity; fast-tracking the procurement of new generation and storage capacity; unleashing investment by businesses and households into rooftop solar; and transforming the electricity sector to achieve long-term energy security.
Renewable energy company G7 has failed to interdict Eskom from applying its new grid access rules. Had the interdict been granted, the progress of new energy projects, both those planned by the private sector and those commissioned to supply Eskom, would have stalled. Judge Basheer Vally dismissed the application for an interdict, with costs, on Monday. Part B of the case – on the substantive issue of Eskom’s authority to change grid rules – is still to be argued.
South African investment management company Westbrooke Alternative Asset Management has successfully closed its R300-million inaugural tax-enhanced renewable energy alternatives investment strategy. It plans to invest the capital alongside South African businesses that install, operate and own small and medium-sized embedded generation solar photovoltaic (PV) projects.
The head of Eskom’s transmission division says he was not surprised by the decision of the Energy Regulator to approve only one of the three licence applications made by the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTC), which is being unbundled from Eskom. However, the Presidency has expressed concern that the decision to process the licence applications separately could delay the operationalisation of the independent grid company, which it views as a priority reform for the embattled sector.
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