75 MW Umoyilanga hybrid project reaches financial close under much-delayed risk-mitigation round

The Umoyilanga hybrid renewables-battery project, which will supply 75 MW of dispatchable electricity daily from 05:00 to 21:30 when built, has officially achieved commercial and financial close... 

Finding immediate steel alternatives a concern as AMSA prepares to wind down longs unit

ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) has indicated that it will enter discussions with buyers of its noncommodity long-steel products in an effort to limit the disruption that is set to arise because... 

Gore warns of ‘plateauing’ pace of delivery on power, logistics, crime reforms

Business Unity South Africa (Busa) president Adrian Gore has warned that the pace of delivery across the joint initiatives being taken with government on electricity, logistics and crime is... 

ArcelorMittal SA CEO sees no way of avoiding longs closure, says wind down to start in Jan

ArcelorMittal South Africa CEO Kobus Verster believes there is no immediate prospect of addressing the structural issues undermining the financial viability of the group’s long-products business... 

3 500 jobs at risk as ArcelorMittal mulls closure of longs units at Newcastle, Vereeniging

Steel producer ArcelorMittal South Africa has indicated that it may close its long-products business, which could result in the loss of 3 500 direct and contractor jobs at its Newcastle and... 

As Eskom outlines worsened prognosis, City Power confirms loadshedding schedule review amid ‘Stage 8’ uproar

Having outlined an improving power system prognosis for the working week on Sunday, following the shock implementation of Stage 6 on Friday November 24, Eskom has since reported that the outlook... 

Graphics confirm 2023 as loadshedding’s annus horribilis

South Africans are already painfully aware that 2023 has been a devastating year for power disruptions, with the latest bout of Stage 6 loadshedding having provided yet another traumatic reminder... 

De-escalation in loadshedding forecast for coming week as country emerges from renewed Stage 6 trauma

Eskom is forecasting a de-escalation in the intensity of rotational power cuts for the coming week following the traumatic return of Stage 6 on Friday November 24 and complaints in certain... 

Black Friday loadshedding triggered by depletion of reserves and heat-wave demand spike

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa attributed the “unwelcome” ramp up in the intensity of loadshedding to Stage 6 to a need for Eskom to rebuild its emergency reserves that had been... 

Eskom’s Hex battery the first of eight utility-scale projects being deployed across four provinces

Eskom has officially started operating the first of eight utility-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) projects being introduced as part of Phase 1 of a World Bank-funded programme to add... 

Regulator approves Eskom tariff discounts for ferrochrome groups

The Energy Regulator has approved six-year negotiated pricing agreements (NPAs) for ferrochrome smelters operated in South Africa by both Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture and Samancor Chrome. The... 

Light from the tunnel?

Reform progress in South Africa rarely moves in a straight line from A to B, with the stop/start nature of the country’s electricity reform being a case in point. Nevertheless, there is a... 

Renewables bodies await publication of Eskom’s curtailment framework

The associations representing the wind and solar sectors as well as independent power producers (IPPs) more generally are eagerly awaiting a proposed curtailment addendum to Eskom’s Grid Connection... 

SAAFF warns of rising port-congestion costs

The South African Association of Freight Forwarders (SAAFF) estimates that the current congestion at South Africa’s ports is costing at least R124-million a day in direct and indirect costs. With... 

Aveng shifts 'epicentre' to Melbourne as it names Cummins as new CEO

The locus of JSE-listed construction group Aveng is set to shift to Australia following the appointment of Scott Cummins, who currently leads McConnell Dowell, to succeed Sean Flanagan as CEO, as... 

Sasol, Air Liquide conclude corporate PPA with Mainstream for 97.5 MW solar project

A 97.5 MW solar photovoltaic project will be constructed in the Free State following the signing of a 20-year corporate power purchase agreement (PPA) between Mainstream Renewable Power and... 

New $1.8bn-plus concessional loan package signed to support JET-IP

South Africa has confirmed the signing of three new policy loan agreements – worth more than $1.8-billion – in support of the country’s Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET-IP), the... 

Report proposes replication of collaborative water model in electricity sector

A new PwC report makes the case for replicating a collaborative infrastructure model that has been used in South Africa’s Limpopo province to provide bulk water to both mines and some 400 000... 

No ‘overnight’ solution to vessel congestion at Durban container terminal

The prevailing backlog of ships at anchorage outside the country’s largest container terminal is currently forecast to be cleared only by the end of February amid persistent equipment shortages and... 

IPG confirms increase in just energy transition funding to $9.3bn

The enlarged International Partners Group (IPG) has reaffirmed its commitment to extend concessional funding to South Africa in support of the country’s Just Energy Transition Investment Plan... 

Eskom to add synchronous condensers to network, including repurposed Camden and Grootvlei generators

Eskom is preparing to introduce 11 synchronous condensers – seven new and four repurposed – across its transmission system to support grid stability as the penetration of variable renewable-energy... 

Next renewables bid window ‘will not be location agnostic’

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa reports that the country’s next renewables bidding round will “not be location agnostic” and will seek to direct projects to areas where there is... 

Baloyi selected to replace Grobler as Sasol CEO

Chemicals and energy group Sasol has announced the appointment of Simon Baloyi as its new president and CEO effective from April 1, 2024, when he will succeed Fleetwood Grobler, who will continue... 

Interim Infrastructure Manager set up to facilitate initial private access to rail network

Transnet has confirmed the establishment of an interim rail Infrastructure Manager, which will oversee the initial process of ensuring that the rail network is opened to private train operating... 

Transnet urged to engage before presenting a R100bn bail-out ‘invoice’

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has not “closed the door” on Transnet’s move to secure a reported R100-billion in balance-sheet support to assist with its recently released turnaround plan.... 

Language of incumbency

Two recent Eskom publications are heavily laden with the language of incumbency, which continues to go unchecked by a policymaker distracted by realpolitik rather than real solutions. The first is... 

Eskom’s hockey-stick shaped grid deployment plan comes under scrutiny

The hockey-stick-curve shape of Eskom’s ten-year execution plan for delivering much-needed new transmission infrastructure continues to come under intense scrutiny from domestic industry, with... 

New Eskom curtailment framework to unlock 4 GW of grid capacity in wind-rich provinces

Eskom has confirmed that it will release a curtailment addendum to its recently published Generation Connection Capacity Assessment (GCCA) that will unlock 4 GW of connection capacity immediately... 

Eskom says Koeberg Unit 1 being started as another resumption target is missed

Eskom reports that it has received permission from the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) to restart Koeberg Unit 1, but has once again missed a recently updated target date for grid synchronisation. 

There are already more clean-energy than fossil-fuel jobs and gap is set to widen

More people work in the energy sector today than in 2019, almost exclusively because of the growth in clean-energy sectors, which have employed more workers than fossil fuels since 2021, a new... 

Bill outlines broad ‘energy value chain’ mandate for State petroleum company

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has released a draft Bill for public comment outlining the establishment of the South African National Petroleum Company (SANPC), which the... 

South African unions to launch just transition labour research centre

Four South African trade union federations have come together to launch a just transition research centre to develop the technical expertise to help the labour movement in addressing the potential... 

‘Open and transparent’ third-party rail access system by April

State-owned freight logistics group Transnet has confirmed that an open and transparent framework for granting private train operating companies’ third-party access to the South African railway... 

$1bn World Bank loan to support South Africa’s energy reforms and decarbonisation

The World Bank has approved a $1-billion Development Policy Loan (DPL) to support market reports under way in the country, as well as South Africa's low-carbon transition.   

Distribution crisis requires attention on same ‘scale and intensity’ as generation shortfall

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has described South Africa’s highly fragmented electricity distribution industry as a threat to energy security that warrants attention “on the scale and... 

End of the beginning

News that 67 municipalities that collectively owe Eskom R56.8-billion, or 97% of the municipal arrear debt of R58.5-billion owed to the utility at the end of March, have formally applied to... 

Eskom’s Hex battery the first of eight utility-scale projects being deployed across four provinces

Eskom has officially started operating the first of eight utility-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) projects being introduced as part of Phase 1 of a World Bank-funded programme to add... 

Activation of loss and damage fund at COP28 a ‘critical global solidarity moment’ – Creecy

Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy has welcomed the agreement ahead of COP28 regarding the operationalisation of the Climate Loss and Damage Fund, the establishment of... 

Pension pay-outs to Transnet execs involved in inflated breathalyser-straw procurement interdicted

Pension pay-outs to two former Transnet executives linked to fruitless and wasteful expenditure of R33.5-million arising from the acquisition of a million disposable breathalyser straws, procured... 

Lack of curtailment framework holding up renewables round, IPP Office confirms

South Africa’s Independent Power Producer (IPP) Office has indicated that the procurement documentation for both the next public renewables round and a gas-to-power programme are at an advanced...