South Africa’s electricity minister proposed a plan to stave off deeper power cuts by increasing the use of diesel turbines along with building more storage capacity to store the fuel. State-owned utility Eskom Holdings will need to increase its budget for diesel, Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said, according to a copy of a presentation seen by Bloomberg. A special dispensation could reduce the cost by allowing Eskom to directly purchase the fuel, the plan showed.
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It was meant to be the climate justice blueprint, the deal that showed how rich countries could help developing economies end their reliance on coal and go green. Almost 18 months on, South Africa’s $8.5 billion transition showpiece looks more like a cautionary tale. Only one coal-fired power plant has been closed since the so-called Just Energy Transition Partnership was unveiled to great fanfare at the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow. Now, some South African politicians are pushing to keep others open longer than planned — potentially for years — as the country struggles to end daily blackouts that are angering voters and turning off foreign investors.
Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has published an explanatory summary of the much-anticipated Electricity Regulation Act Amendment Bill, which is now poised to be introduced to the National Assembly for consideration. In his introductory note to the summary Mantashe sets out the purpose of the proposed amendments to be the following:
Shenzhen Stock Exchange-listed inverter manufacturer Ginlong Solis Technologies will launch its S6 Advanced Power Hybrid Inverter for South Africa at the Solar Show Africa, being held in Johannesburg on April 25 and 26. The inverters have added generator connections and control functions, and each works as a fully independent power centre to meet the needs of the South African market for residential and commercial and industrial projects, where power outages have become a daily occurrence, the company says.
The National Energy Crisis Committee (NECOM), set up under the Presidency, has brought together the best people and put together a plan that has the best chance of resolving the country’s greatest economic challenge – the electricity crisis, states Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busi Mavuso. Business has backed that plan, going so far as to raise R100-million to pay for the technical skills needed for its implementation, she points out in her latest weekly newsletter.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has denied that the current process of re-examining the timeframes for the closure of coal power stations represents a reversal of the country’s position on the just energy transition. In his weekly newsletter, the President argued that any decision on decommissioning will be informed by a detailed technical assessment of the feasibility of continuing to operate older plants.
State-owned Eskom reports that two employees have been arrested in relation to alleged fuel theft. The utility notes that, on April 6, the South African Police Services’ (SAPS’s) Illicit Mining and Economic Infrastructure Task Team was observing various fuel trucks in the vicinity of the Kendal power station, when they noticed a fuel tanker approaching from the power station.
As the latest round of Eskom wage negotiations is under way until the end of May, trade unions the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa and Solidarity have confirmed they have rejected Eskom’s offer of a 3.75% increase, owing to it being below the inflation rate of 7.1%. The negotiations will span three rounds, with the first having been held on April 19.
Cable manufacturer Aberdare has launched a new e-commerce platform to enable the online sale of its products. “As we look forward to the digital future, it is imperative that we adapt to ensure we continue to add value to our customers as we also embrace the digital Internet of Things and artificial intelligence era.
The University of Johannesburg’s Professor Talita Greyling, a wellbeing economist, has looked at the crisis of loadshedding and has provided statistics to investigate how the continuous blackouts impact South Africans’ emotions. She found that the emotions anger, disgust, fear and sadness almost doubled for the period from April 13 to 16 this year, compared with the same period in 2022. During the period under review, South Africans were faced with Stage 6 loadshedding and rumours that the country could soon face Stage 10 loadshedding.
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