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SAWEA hails decade of clean energy in the country

May is National Energy Month in South Africa and, as the renewable energy sector commemorates a decade of clean power in the country, industry organisation the South Africa Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) has noted the contribution the country’s operational wind farms are making.  “Energy Month is an opportune time to consider the impact that wind power has had over the last decade in South Africa and the sector’s achievements,” says SAWEA CEO Ntombifuthi Ntuli.
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Ivanhoe, DRC utility partner to deliver hydropower for Kamoa mine

To support the continued successful performance of the Kamoa mining complex, Ivanhoe Mines Energy DRC, a sister company of Kamoa Copper, has announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding to establish a public-private partnership (PPP) with the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC’s) State-owned power company La Société Nationale d’Electricité (SNEL) to deliver reliable, clean and renewable hydropower to the Kamoa mine. Ivanhoe Mines co-chairpersons Robert Friedland and Yufeng Miles Sun explain that Ivanhoe Mines Energy DRC’s PPP with SNEL is aimed at working together to strengthen the grid’s capacity with renewable energy through the upgrade of a turbine at the existing Inga II hydropower plant, in the southwest of the DRC, on the Congo river – the deepest river in the world and the second-longest in Africa after the Nile river.
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Eskom approves higher Duvha coal price, facilitating South32 mine sale to Seriti

State-owned electricity producer Eskom confirmed on Monday that the Duvha coal supply agreement (CSA) had been increased to facilitate the sale of South32’s majority shareholding in South32 SA Energy Coal Holdings (SAEC) to black-owned resources group Seriti. The utility also announced that the CSA modification, which had attracted much criticism in recent months, had also been approved by the National Treasury on May 1.
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Solar minibuses for Africa? Data seen as key to green transport switch

As emissions from African transport surge, governments need to find ways to encourage a shift to cleaner, healthier electric vehicles, especially among the minibus and motorcycle taxis that dominate transport in many cities, researchers said on Thursday. Investment in generating more solar-powered electricity to charge electric vehicles (EVs) could encourage their use, cut pollution and costs for passengers, and help stabilise unreliable energy systems, they said in a commentary published in Nature Sustainability.
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Sungrow, partners to build Malawi’s first solar-plus-storage project

Solar photovoltaic (PV) and energy storage systems (ESS) solutions supplier Sungrow has partnered with JCM Power, InfraCo Africa, RINA and Innovate to build Malawi’s first utility-scale solar-plus-storage project. Located in the Dedza district of Malawi, near the town of Golomoti, the 20 MW solar PV and 5 MW/10 MWh energy storage project is set to demonstrate the value of solar PV coupled with energy storage,  Sungrow says. 
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Nersa to assess new NPA between Eskom, Hillside smelter

Creamer Media’s Chanel de Bruyn speaks to Engineering News Editor Terence Creamer about a new Negotiated Pricing Agreement (NPA) between Eskom and the Hillside aluminium smelter, what the process will be for Nersa to adjudicate the NPA and if there are likely to be more such NPAs with other mining and industrial firms.
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IFC could fund controversial gas-power ships in South Africa

The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) said it expressed interest in funding bidders in a South African tender for emergency power provision, including a Turkish supplier of gas-fired power plants on ships, putting it on course for a clash with climate activists. Karpowership, the Istanbul-based company, won the bulk of the bids in March and has until the end of July to secure funding and necessary approvals and agreements to make binding a pact to supply 1,220 megawatts of power for 20 years.
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Eskom highlights financial limitations as it mulls industrial applications for discounted tariffs

State-owned electricity producer Eskom confirms that it has been approached by customers in various industrial sectors with regard to possible applications for discounted Negotiated Pricing Agreements (NPAs), but says its weak financial position prevents widespread implementation. The first NPA submitted under a recently approved government framework for such deals is currently serving before the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa), which has called for stakeholder comment on a proposed ten-year NPA for South32’s Hillside Aluminium smelter, in KwaZulu-Natal.
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NUM rails against Eskom’s claims on average staff salary

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has disputed claims by Eskom in a statement that the average salary of an Eskom employee stood at R737 000 per annum, contending that employees negotiating their salaries at a bargaining unit could not earn more than R650 460. The union said that the statement, in which the R737 000 figure was mentioned, was a show of bad faith from Eskom. A statement from NUM’s negotiators lamented what they called an “apartheid wage gap” at the power utility.
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