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Wednesday, April 7, 2010.

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Shannon de Ryhove.

Making headlines today:

The South African government has indicated that there is no Plan B to close funding gaps that could arise at Eskom's 4 800-MW Medupi power station project should the utility fail to secure a contested 3,75-billion-dollar World Bank loan.

The World Bank is due to vote on the loan approval on April 8, with a so-called "Global Day of Protest" in opposition to the proposed loan planned for Washington, DC, on Wednesday.

Energy Minister Dipuo Peters and Department of Energy DG Nelisiwe Magubane said that they had been offered no further visibility on how the bank's 24 voting members would vote.

Meanwhile, Energy Minister Dipuo Peters said that the draft consultation paper on the second version of the integrated resource plan, or the IRP2, will be published during April. The IRP2 will provide a power investment and energy-mix road map for the next 20 years.

The document, which was initially expected by the end of March, would form the basis for a far-reaching "stakeholder engagement process", which government's interMinisterial committee on energy approved in late March.

Peters indicated that the plan would emphasise renewable energy, electricity imports and demand-side management schemes. However, it's also likely to include further coal-fired power stations and the resurrection of the country's nuclear-energy programme.

Also making headlines:

Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies says that 75% of companies in the private sector are still not fully BEE compliant.
South Africa's Competition Commission conducts a search and seize operation at the offices of South African Airways, Mango Airlines and the Airlines Association of Southern Africa.
South Africa's Energy Minister continues to back the Coega refinery project, in the Eastern Cape province.
And, the second version of government's Industrial Policy Action Plan is seen as a realistic growth strategy.

That's a round up of news making headlines today.