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South Africa won’t be ‘short-changed’ in climate finance talks, Ramaphosa insists

By: Terence Creamer 25th November 2021 President Cyril Ramaphosa says that government will not allow itself to be “short-changed” or lumped with conditions that will undermine its developmental objectives when negotiating the details of an $8.5-billion climate-finance package with developed countries over the coming months. Responding... →

Ramaphosa to chair inter-Ministerial committee to oversee R131bn just transition offer

By: Terence Creamer 25th November 2021 President Cyril Ramaphosa will chair an inter-Ministerial committee that is being established to coordinate further work on the country’s just transition plan, as well as the R131-billion climate-finance offer made to South Africa at the recent COP26 climate gathering. Following a briefing on the... →

President Cyril Ramaphosa

Eskom failures leave South Africa set for years of power cuts

By: Bloomberg 24th November 2021 South Africa’s deepening energy crisis looks set to persist for at least two more years, with operational problems at the monolithic state power utility showing no signs of abating and plans to add new generation capacity ensnared in legal wrangling and red tape. The meltdown at Eskom Holdings,... →

Eskom’s biggest creditor sees barriers to debt-for-equity swap

By: Bloomberg 23rd November 2021 South Africa’s Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), the biggest investor in Eskom Holdings debt, said there were significant hurdles to a proposal that its bonds be converted to equity to help rescue the struggling power monopoly. The initiative, which has been backed by the country’s... →

Eskom's bondholders signal caution ahead of debt talks

By: Bloomberg 22nd November 2021 As Eskom Holdings prepares to talk to investors about plans to address a multibillion-dollar debt load, the performance of the company’s bonds already suggests some skepticism from bondholders. The yield premium of Eskom’s 2028 dollar bonds without a government guarantee over those with state... →

Eskom officially declares Lethabo tower collapse an act of sabotage

By: Terence Creamer 19th November 2021 Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter has confirmed that the collapse of a distribution-line tower providing power to the coal conveyor system at the Lethabo power station, in the Free State, was a “deliberate act of sabotage”. The sabotage occurred at about 18:00 on Wednesday November 17 and was implemented... →

Eight of the H-frame tower’s 24-mm cable stays were deliberately cut either with a hacksaw or an angle grinder

Recovery plan under way at Tutuka power station – Eskom

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 18th November 2021 Tutuka power station GM Sello Mametja is hopeful Eskom will be able to improve the energy availability factor (EAF) of the power station, near Standerton, Mpumalanga, above 70% by June next year. Mametja took over as GM of the power station nine months ago and told media during a site tour on... →

Photo by Creamer Media's Tasneem Bulbulia
The Tutuka power station

Eskom beefs up security after suspicious incidents at Matimba and Lethabo

By: Terence Creamer 18th November 2021 Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter reports that overt and covert security is being beefed up in and around the utility’s power stations following suspicious incidents at Matimba and Lethabo on November 17 that are suspected of not being “entirely coincidental”. In a briefing on the state of the system,... →

The Lethabo power station

South Africa urges careful planning for end of coal

By: Bloomberg 18th November 2021 South Africa’s energy department has said it will start preparing for the end of coal-for-power use in the country but cautioned that a retreat from the dirtiest fossil fuel must take account of the impact on the economy and the people who depend on it for a living. In a presentation to a small... →

Not a ‘finance COP’, but ‘solid work programme’ in place for defining new climate-finance goal

By: Terence Creamer 17th November 2021 Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy says that, although COP26 was not the ‘finance COP’ hoped for ahead of the Glasgow meeting, it nevertheless did yield “a good, solid work programme” for defining the post-2025 finance goal and for ensuring that the prevailing... →

Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy

Another round of load-shedding declared for this week

By: Terence Creamer 17th November 2021 Eskom has confirmed that Stage 2 load-shedding will be implemented from 14:00 on Wednesday November 17, until 5:00 on Saturday November 20. CEO Andre de Ruyter announced the latest round of load-shedding at the tail-end of a briefing initially called to warn of possible rotational power cuts,... →

Photo by Creamer Media's Donna Slater
Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter

Eskom warns of severely constrained power system

By: Creamer Media Reporter 16th November 2021 Power utility Eskom is calling on the public to reduce electricity use, as the power system is "severely constrained", with five generation units at various power stations having failed throughout Tuesday. It notes that no load-shedding is being implemented yet, but warns that if there is any... →

Bring on non-binary debates for a redefined, realistic just transition, says WCA

By: Marleny Arnoldi 16th November 2021 A binary, this-or-that debate on technology for a just energy transition is unhelpful and does not consider the unique circumstances for each country in the pursuit of carbonisation, the World Coal Association (WCA) argues. The association’s stance is that it will respect coal users and non-coal... →

WCA CEO Michelle Manook

Big business says Eskom resignations would only ‘make a bad situation worse’

By: Terence Creamer 15th November 2021 Business Leadership South Africa says it disagrees with those calling for the resignation of Eskom CEO André de Ruyter and his leadership team following the most recent intense period of load-shedding. In a statement, BLSA noted that the State-owned utility had had ten CEOs in ten years, creating... →

UK's Johnson calls COP26 climate agreement ‘game changing’

By: Bloomberg 15th November 2021 The agreement reached Saturday at global climate talks in Glasgow will be pivotal in the fight to stop global warming, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said. The conference hosted by the UK produced a “game-changing agreement that the world needed to see,” Johnson said at a press conference in... →

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson says Glasgow has sounded the death knell for coal power.

De Ruyter sees transparency as key as Eskom walks load-shedding tightrope

By: Terence Creamer 12th November 2021 As Eskom exited one of its most intensive periods of load-shedding on Friday November 12, CEO Andre de Ruyter promised greater transparency in future on both the state and performance of the power system given the likelihood that the risk of disruption will persist for the coming three to four... →

Photo by Creamer Media Chief Photographer Donna Slater
Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter

AMEU responds to allegations that some municipalities ignored load-shedding instructions

11th November 2021 In this editorial, the Association of Municipal Electricity Utilities (AMEU) responds to allegations by power utility Eskom that some municipalities had ignored instructions to implement load-shedding last weekend and that that had contributed to the utility having to implement Stage 4... →

No immediate Eskom debt solution, as Minister outlines ‘tough love’ stance on SOEs

By: Terence Creamer 11th November 2021 Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana offered no new insight in his maiden address to lawmakers into how government intended approaching the issue of Eskom’s R400-billion debt burden, which has been labelled unsustainable by the utility, and also refrained from making any new provisions for... →

Eskom seeks urgent conversion of $8.5bn political declaration into commercial agreement

By: Terence Creamer 10th November 2021 Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter reports that the State-owned utility has already taken some initial steps to ensure that the $8.5-billion political declaration signed at COP26 in early November is urgently converted into a practical commercial agreement to support its just transition programme.... →

Eskom rock statue at Megawatt park head office

'We'll breathe clean air, but in darkness' – Mantashe's DDG slams 'financial bullying' in coal fight

By: News24Wire 10th November 2021 Deputy Director General of the Department of Mineral Resources Ntokozo Ngcwabe has slammed what she called "financial bullying" by funders who refuse to finance coal projects, saying that South Africa needs to pace itself in its move away from the polluting resource. "We need to pace ourselves... →

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe

Procurement rules and liquidity constraints hold back Eskom’s maintenance roll-out

By: Terence Creamer 9th November 2021 Liquidity constraints and procurement problems continue to impede Eskom’s reliability maintenance recovery (RMR) programme, with CEO Andre de Ruyter reporting that South Africa’s public procurement rules have undercut the utility’s efforts to swiftly appoint the competent contractors needed to... →

Photo by Creamer Media's Donna Slater
Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter

R130bn climate deal can be leveraged for R500bn clean energy shift, says RMB

By: Schalk Burger 9th November 2021 The R130-billion concessional climate finance green deal South Africa signed at COP26 could translate into a R500-billion boost to help South Africa’s just energy transition to decarbonise its sources of energy, says financial services firm RMB CEO James Formby. “We are yet to see the details... →

South Africa targets ‘highly concessional’ terms as it moves to negotiate $8.5bn climate deal

By: Terence Creamer 9th November 2021 If South Africa is unable to secure highly concessional terms from the international partners that have offered $8.5-billion to support the country’s energy transition and to provide social protection for workers and communities associated with the coal value chain, it will not pursue the... →

Power liens with a coal-fired power station in the background

South Africa must find alternative livelihoods in shift away from coal – Mantashe

By: Reuters 9th November 2021 South Africa's shift away from fossil fuels must generate alternative economic activities in order to avoid coal mining areas such as Mpumalanga becoming "ghost towns", Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe said on Tuesday. "If we say we must stop fossil fuels, we must find... →

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe

With South Africa set to breach 1 000 hours of load-shedding in 2021, concerns grow about finance for maintenance

By: Terence Creamer 8th November 2021 With South Africa now officially experiencing its worst-ever year of rotational power cuts, there is growing concern about both the level and flow of financing for maintenance, as well as the utility’s capacity to implement. Initial calculations by Jarrad Wright, formerly of the Council for... →

A graph showing the number of hours of load-shedding since South Africa from 2007

South Africans need to be willing to change their ways if country is to address climate change

By: Schalk Burger 8th November 2021 Addressing climate change will not be achieved without a massive willingness to change how South Africans currently do their jobs and live their lives, and will require unprecedented innovation, says business organisation Business Leadership South Africa CEO Busi Mavuso. "The challenge is that... →

Stage 2 load-shedding to continue throughout the week

By: Creamer Media Reporter 7th November 2021 Power utility Eskom has announced that, owing to insufficient generation capacity and the inability to replenish emergency reserves over the past weekend, Stage 2 load-shedding will continue to be implemented throughout the week of November 8 to 13. Eskom notes that, on November 7, a unit each at... →

Traffic in South Africa is affected by load-shedding

Funding Africa’s $2.8tr net-zero transition by 2050 a ‘pressing issue’

By: Terence Creamer 4th November 2021 Funding Africa’s transition to net zero by 2050 is one of the most pressing issues that Africa and the world must address, PwC states in a new report that estimates the cost of such a transition to be about $2.8-trillion. The ‘Africa Energy Review 2021’ calculates that $33-billion would be... →

PwC energy strategy and infrastructure head James Mackay

Ramaphosa says $8.5bn just transition partnership could become model for others

By: Terence Creamer 4th November 2021 President Cyril Ramaphosa says the initial $8.5-billion to be mobilised over the next three to five years in support of South Africa’s just transition to a low-carbon economy, will facilitate the implementation of the country’s ambitious emission-reduction goals and develop a model for a just... →

President Cyril Ramaphosa

Top-performing South African fund rides bet on energy stocks

By: Bloomberg 4th November 2021 South Africa’s top-performing equity fund has reaped the benefit of a wager that battered stocks, particularly in the energy sector, would flourish as economies rebounded from the worst of the pandemic. Blue Quadrant Capital Management’s Worldwide Flexible Prescient Fund has returned 125% this... →

Confluence of factors drove recent sharp rise in energy prices

By: Schalk Burger 3rd November 2021 The global energy price shock that has impacted especially energy-intensive industries in major and emerging markets was driven by different local factors in various parts of the world. Those factors include drought conditions in Brazil reducing hydropower output, a prolonged winter in Europe and... →

$8.5bn climate package an ‘important first step’ in South Africa’s just transition

By: Terence Creamer 3rd November 2021 Eskom CEO Andrè de Ruyter describes the $8.5-billion (R131-billion) financing package announced at COP26 as “an important first step” in light of the fact that South Africa’s energy transition is expected to require investments of between $30- and $35-billion over the coming 15 years. He says... →

Photo by Creamer Media's Donna Slater
Eskom CEO Andrè de Ruyter

DBSA commits to playing its part in a just transition to net-zero emissions by 2050

By: Schalk Burger 3rd November 2021 Development finance institution (DFI) the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) says it will play an active role and provide finance for a just transition that achieves net-zero greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. →

SANEA names 2021 Energy Awards winners

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 2nd November 2021 Industry association the South African National Energy Association (SANEA) has named the winners of the 2021 Energy Awards, who were acknowledged for their contribution to the energy sector and the country’s energy community. The Energy Shapeshifter award was awarded to Lethabo Manamela, the... →

South Africa signs R131bn concessional climate pledge for low-carbon transition

By: Simone Liedtke 2nd November 2021 President Cyril Ramaphosa on November 2 announced that South Africa had signed a political declaration with the governments of France, Germany, the UK and the US, as well as the leadership of the European Union, to establish a partnership to mobilise an initial $8.5-billion, or R131-billion, over... →

President Cyril Ramaphosa

Eskom to implement Stage 2 load-shedding from 16:00

By: Creamer Media Reporter 2nd November 2021 Power utility Eskom will implement Stage 2 load-shedding from 16:00 on November 2 to 05:00 on November 3. This follows after a unit at the Kusile power station tripped on Tuesday afternoon. A unit each at the Matimba and Arnot power stations had also failed to return to service. →

Eskom says it will stop power cuts from 20:00 on Friday

By: Reuters 29th October 2021 State-owned monopoly power supplier Eskom said on Friday it would lift all planned power cuts - locally called "load-shedding" - in the country from 8pm local time. The company, which runs a fleet of ageing thermal coal-fired power plants, had been implementing power cuts ranging from two to... →

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