Renewable energy developer and independent power producer Mulilo Energy has secured an initially R1.1-billion corporate facility from financial services firm Standard Bank to support equity commitments. A further R5.9-billion can also be allocated from headroom as the security pool grows. The Equity HoldCo Facility is designed to further empower Mulilo’s growth trajectory, Standard Bank says.
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South Africa’s energy regulator apologised for a R54-billion error in calculating electricity tariffs, a mistake that will be passed on to consumers. The National Energy Regulator of South Africa, which determines what State power utility Eskom can charge for electricity, announced the miscalculation last month, without providing further details.
Amid a global emphasis on a just energy transition to help mitigate the impacts of climate change, issues such as exclusion and inequality should be addressed to ensure the transition is equitable. During the fifth instalment of the Standard Bank Climate Summit, held on September 9, Standard Bank Group CEO Sim Tshabalala argued that, in the context of climate policy, exclusion and inequality slow down the transition in the Global South and create intense and effective resistance to transition in the developed world.
The National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA) has provided a detailed breakdown of the steps being taken in preparation for the launch of the South African Wholesale Electricity Market (SAWEM) – a key evolutionary step in the development of a fully competitive electricity supply industry in South Africa. The aspirational launch date of April 1, 2026, remains in place, but NTCSA senior manager for market operations Keith Bowen has again underlined that the timeline faces several risks.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is setting up an entity aimed at lowering the cost of mini grids in Africa, to accelerate plans to connect 300-million Africans to electricity by 2030. The vehicle targets a first financial close of approximately $300-million before the end of 2025, with a long-term capitalisation goal of $1-billion, according to Andrew Herscowitz, the CEO of the so-called Mission 300 Accelerator.
Ethiopia officially inaugurates Africa’s largest hydroelectric dam on Tuesday, a project that will provide energy to millions of Ethiopians while deepening a rift with downstream Egypt that has unsettled the region. Ethiopia, the continent’s second most populous nation with a population of 120 million, sees the $5-billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on a tributary of the River Nile as central to its ambitions for economic development.
Another dispute may be looming between Eskom and the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa). This one, over the regulator’s decision to approve ArcelorMittal South Africa’s (AMSA’s) applications for six-year negotiated pricing agreements (NPAs) for its Newcastle and Vanderbijlpark operations. In a statement, Nersa noted that Eskom had rejected the applications made by AMSA in September and October last year on the basis that the utility did not agree that they met the criteria for such tariff relief.
State-owned power utility Eskom has identified a set of roles it could and should operate in to support the transition of the electricity environment to include more sustainably-generated electricity. Specifically, Eskom chairperson Dr Mteto Nyati, during a briefing on September 5, said that utility would participate in the renewable energy generation space and aimed to “be assertive, as this is a space we feel we should be able to occupy”.
State-owned power utility Eskom forecasts no loadshedding during the summer from September 1, to March 31, 2026, as supply and demand interventions have added about 4 000 MW of extra capacity to meet expected demand this summer. The ongoing recovery and structural improvements in Eskom’s generation fleet was owing to the focused implementation of its Generation Recovery Plan by its workforce, said Eskom officials and Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa during a briefing on September 5.
Although the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) faces a series of significant obstacles – such as insufficient transmission infrastructure; drought conditions affecting hydropower plants; theft and vandalism; high technical and non-technical losses; funding gaps; and a 4 200 MW generation shortfall across interconnected member States – South Africa’s Deputy Electricity and Energy Minister Samantha Jane Graham-Maré has said these are surmountable with the right kind of cooperation and funding. “These are not small issues. They affect our economies, our communities and our ability for our industries to grow. But here’s the good news: these challenges are not insurmountable. Think about it this way: if every country tries to build everything on its own, we spend more and we waste more.
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