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S Africa a key energy market

Despite the disappointment for the local wind industry over the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) Bid Window 6 – which did not approve any new wind generation capacity – wind turbine designer and manufacturer Nordex Energy South Africa regards the country as a key market. The company is committed to South Africa, with “great potential in both public and private procurement”.
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Regulatory changes to boost energy projects

Recent regulatory changes in the local energy sector – such as the lifting of the licensing threshold for independent power generation – will help boost solar energy equipment supplier GameChange Solar’s involvement in energy projects. “The lifting of the threshold, however, is not a switch that allow for projects to move instantly,” says GameChange Solar Southern Africa regional director Russ Bowden, adding that projects larger than 100 MW are large investments with many stakeholders, as such projects require prudent planning and execution to ensure a sound investment.
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Just energy transition spurs innovation in energy value chain

The just energy transition (JET) in South Africa provides global power technologies leader Hitachi Energy with opportunities to supply the utility, industry and infrastructure sectors with innovative solutions and services across the energy sector value chain. “Digital and energy platforms are needed for the enormous power system energy transition challenges of increased complexity and additional capacity requirements. These platforms allow for greater grid resilience and help manage the shift to a more complex power generation landscape by matching fluctuations in power supply and demand dynamically,” explains Hitachi Energy MD for sub-Saharan Africa Malvin Naicker.
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Private sector seen as key to unblocking transition-enabling grid capacity

The lack of transmission infrastructure public funding for grid strengthening and expansion has emerged as a binding constraint on connecting much-needed private generation and on South Africa’s transitioning to a more reliable and cleaner electricity sector. Thus, there are growing calls for not only the separation of the National Transmission Company South Africa from generation-focused Eskom but also private-sector participation in the funding, building and operation of parts of the grid to accelerate the development of the infrastructure needed to end loadshedding and facilitate the energy transition.
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Transferrable skills, collaboration vital for transition, employment

With the introduction of the just energy transition, there will be a downsizing in personnel in sectors such as coal, which, in turn, will require a transfer of skills to the renewable-energy sector. The world’s leading organisation for project professionals, Project Management Institute (PMI), believes the energy transition will lead to a demand for project management skills. With the right polices in place, the outcome for both the workers and the economy can be inclusive and fair. 
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Belgium’s King Philippe visits CSIR energy storage testbed facility

State-owned entity the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) on March 23 hosted the Belgium’s King Philippe at its Indoor Energy Storage Testbed facility, in Pretoria. South Africa’s Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister Dr Blade Nzimande was also in attendance at the facility, which equips the CSIR to test the performance and reliability of batteries, as expressed by their storage capacity, life cycle and depth of charge. 
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Global trade down despite hitting record $32tr, green goods up – Unctad

Despite reaching a record $32-trillion in 2022, global trade growth turned negative in the second half of 2022 amid deteriorating economic conditions and rising uncertainties, reports the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad).

For the first half of this year, global trade is set to stagnate, but could later benefit from a strong performance of trade in environment-friendly products, whose growth held strong throughout 2022, Unctad’s ‘Global Trade Update’ of March 23 shows.

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Municipalities urged to embrace prosumers to end loadshedding and shore up revenues

The economic and financial benefits to South African municipalities of buying electricity from independent power producers (IPPs), as well as commercial and residential prosumers has turned overwhelmingly positive and should be pursued with enthusiasm, the chairperson of the South African Independent Power Producer Association argues. In fact, Thomas Garner states that, in the context of ongoing loadshedding, a municipality’s  electricity-related finances could be significantly bolstered if it were to diversify its sources of supply beyond Eskom and, in so doing, reduce revenue-sapping rotational cuts and stimulate rates-generating economic activity.
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Manufacturer confidence declines to near global financial crisis levels, Absa survey shows

A manufacturing survey undertaken by financial services company Absa finds that confidence levels in the manufacturing sector dropped by nine points to 17 in the first quarter – the lowest since the Covid-19 hard lockdown and similar to that experienced during the 2007/8 global financial crisis.

The confidence index ranges between zero and 100, with zero reflecting an extreme lack of confidence and 100 extreme confidence where all participants are satisfied with current business conditions.

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Significant funding required to positively undertake Just Energy Transition – report

The second of three reports looking into South Africa’s energy transition, released by the African Climate Foundation (ACF) this week, finds that significant amounts of funding will be required to promote positive social outcomes and to prevent a deterioration in poverty and unemployment that a completely unmanaged transition would bring about.

South Africa is in the process of transitioning from a majority of its baseload generation fleet being coal-fired, to an increasingly renewable energy-supported grid.

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