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Emfuleni municipality reaches agreement to settle debt owed to Eskom

By: Simone Liedtke 18th March 2020 State-owned power utility Eskom, led by CEO André de Ruyter, met with senior officials of the Gauteng Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) and executive mayors on Tuesday to resolve issues around the debt owed by municipalities to Eskom. The meeting was convened by... →

CBI invites research proposals to advance lead battery tech in energy storage

By: Marleny Arnoldi 18th March 2020 The Consortium for Battery Innovation (CBI) has, for the first time, launched a request for research proposals to support battery technology innovation in energy storage systems. The consortium is seeking research bids focused on facilitating the latest understanding in energy storage... →

Eskom graft probe widens into contracts with global partners

By: Bloomberg 16th March 2020 Eskom Holdings contracts with five international companies will be scrutinized by South African state investigators as part of a widening probe into graft at the debt-laden State-owned utility. The probe will review agreements with North American engineering services firms WSP Global and Black &... →

No immediate power tariff impact, but first court ruling portends material future hikes

By: Terence Creamer 13th March 2020 The Eskom tariff increase for 2020/21 tabled before lawmakers this week provides no scope for any further hikes this year beyond those already sanctioned for April 1 by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) in previous price determinations and regulatory clearing account (RCA)... →

SCA denies CTF appeal to have renewables agreements set aside

By: Marleny Arnoldi 13th March 2020 The South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) has welcomed a judgment by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) dismissing a case brought by the Coal Transporters Forum (CTF) to set aside power purchase agreements (PPAs) with certain preferred bidders. CTF had argued that the court should... →

SAWEA CEO Ntombifuthi Ntuli

Shares in South Africa's Sasol jump nearly 30% as oil price recovery sparks buying

By: Reuters 13th March 2020 Shares in South African petrochemicals group Sasol surged nearly 30% on Friday as a recovery in oil prices sparked buying of the stock, which was pummelled in the previous session. Brent crude prices rose over 3% on Friday after falling more than 7% the day before, a drop which helped send Sasol... →

Youth nuclear organisation appoints South African as executive secretary

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 13th March 2020 Global nonprofit industry organisation, the International Youth Nuclear Congress (IYNC) has appointed Emmanuel Montwedi as its new executive secretary. Montwedi is a senior nuclear engineer and is currently serving as the deputy chairperson of the South African Young Nuclear Professionals... →

Eskom to restart Koeberg unit on Sunday

By: Marleny Arnoldi 13th March 2020 State-owned power utility Eskom plans to restart Koeberg Unit 1 on Sunday, which should help to stabilise the grid. On March 10, Eskom’s operators had to manually trip the unit, owing to increasing temperature on the secondary side of the plant. This put further strain on the grid, forcing... →

Carbon storage vital to chemicals projects

By: Cameron Mackay 13th March 2020 With the global drive to meet climate targets and mitigate the devastating effects of climate change, carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a vital emissions reduction technology for the chemicals and petrochemicals industry, says international think-tank Global CCS Institute advocacy and... →

Photo by Bloomberg
DECARBONISING INDUSTRY Efforts from government and industry are needed to address carbon emissions from chemical and petrochemical production and the use and disposal of chemical products

Eskom to implement 'stage 4' rolling power cuts until Friday

By: African News Agency 12th March 2020 South Africa's electricity utility Eskom said on Thursday it would continue implementing "stage 4" rotational powercuts until Friday following a breakdown at its Koeberg station and the associated loss of generating capacity. "The faulty pump at Koeberg has now been repaired and is running again.... →

Bank forecasting ‘exponential growth’ for South Africa’s small-scale power market

By: Terence Creamer 11th March 2020 A leading South African bank is forecasting “exponential growth” for the country’s small-scale embedded generation (SSEG) market in the coming few years, having already committed to funding project pipelines worth more than R1-billion, mostly in the form of rooftop solar. Nedbank CIB energy... →

Nedbank CIB energy finance principal Duncan Abel

Eskom seizes assets from Emfuleni to recover millions in arrears

By: African News Agency 11th March 2020 Eskom on Tuesday began implementing an attachment order against the Emfuleni municpality in response to its failure to pay millions in arrears, with the sheriff seizing cars, furniture and other moveable assets. A court order in 2018, gave Eskom the go ahead to recover R615-million in arrears... →

South African court sides with Eskom in 2018/19 tariff dispute

By: Reuters 10th March 2020 A South African court on Tuesday sided with State power utility Eskom in a dispute with energy regulator Nersa over electricity tariffs in the 2018/19 financial year. The court "set aside" Nersa's tariff decision and granted Eskom leave to apply to Nersa for additional expenses it incurred in... →

Eskom moves to Stage 4 load-shedding after Koeberg unit trips

By: African News Agency 10th March 2020 South African power utility, Eskom, on Tuesday announced Stage 4 load-shedding from 14:00 after Koeberg Power Station's unit 1 tripped. "The unit has been disconnected from the grid due to a fault on the turbine side, however, the nuclear reactor remains safe. The teams are investigating the root... →

Eskom announces stage 4 loadshedding from 2pm

By: African News Agency 10th March 2020 South African power utility, Eskom, on Tuesday announced stage 4 loadshedding from 2pm after Koeberg Power Station's unit 1 tripped. "The unit has been disconnected from the grid due to a fault on the turbine side, however, the nuclear reactor remains safe. The teams are investigating the root... →

Legal threats set to stymie South African unions’ Eskom plan

By: Bloomberg 10th March 2020 A plan proposed by South Africa’s biggest labor group to get pension funds and state lenders to refinance part of the state power utility’s gargantuan debt faces hurdles that may be impossible to overcome. Under the Congress of South African Trade Unions’ so-called social compact, Eskom Holdings... →

Opinion: Government can and should expedite the procurement of emergency power

10th March 2020 In this opinion article, Megan Adderley and Melissa Hendrickse of Webber Wentzel argue that, to enable a swift response to closing South Africa’s existing electricity supply deficit of 3 000 MW, it may be legally permissible and necessary for the National Energy Regulator of South Africa to... →

Ncondezi nears tariff offer submission stage, to commission off-grid project soon

By: Marleny Arnoldi 10th March 2020 Aim-listed Ncondezi Energy is at an advanced stage with the project financing model for its 300 MW coal-to-power project, in Mozambique, and expects sign off from its partners before the end of the month. Once the financial model is signed off, the company can start with a formal tariff offer... →

Lessons from Brazil and India as South Africa gets set to resume renewables auctions

By: Terence Creamer 10th March 2020 Auctions have proved extremely successful for driving down the cost of wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) tariffs in both Brazil and India in recent years and are, thus, set to remain the main instrument for introducing yet more variable renewable-energy capacity. Nevertheless, specialists from... →

Photo by Bloomberg
A wind farm operating in Brazil

Stage 2 load shedding to be implemented from Tuesday, says Eskom

By: African News Agency 10th March 2020 Eskom says it will continue increase load shedding to Stage 2 from 9am on Tuesday, which is likely to continue for the rest of the week due to further delays on some generation units that were expected to return to service on Monday. Eskom says the delays have put additional pressure on the... →

A recycling plan to clear wind turbine blades from landfills

By: Bloomberg 9th March 2020 It’s difficult to recycle a gigantic wind turbine. The blades are built to withstand extreme weather, from scorching desert heat to hurricane-like winds, and that means their life almost always ends in a landfill. In Europe alone, about 3,800 blades will be removed every year through at least... →

Innovative thermal energy storage chain

By: Debbie French 9th March 2020 Academics at the University of Nottingham, in the UK have developed thermal energy technology for a range of applications including buildings, greenhouses, cold storage and industrial processes. The patented ChainStore technology is being promoted by Fellow of the European Academy of Sciences and... →

Eskom to implement stage 1 load shedding from 9am on Monday

By: African News Agency 9th March 2020 Eskom will implement stage 1 load shedding from 9am on Monday morning to 11pm on Monday night, the state-owned power utility said. "It is envisaged that load shedding may continue to be implemented until Thursday," Eskom said in a statement on Sunday night. This was due to a number of units still... →

Eskom warns of 8 000 MW power cuts if maintenance delayed

By: Bloomberg 6th March 2020 Eskom Holdings warned that its maintenance plan must be supported by the government or South Africa can expect regular blackouts from power cuts of 8 000 MW by mid-2021, a move that would cripple the economy. Shortly after taking up the role in January, CEO Andre de Ruyter said more planned power... →

Opinion: South African steel industry is an industry in distress

6th March 2020 In this opinion piece, South African Iron and Steel Institute secretary-general Charles Dednam outlines the difficulties being faced by the domestic steel industry and calls for the creation a ‘level playing field’ to enable the steel industry to contribute more fully in stimulating value-added... →

South African Iron and Steel Institute secretary-general Charles Dednam

No load-shedding expected on Friday, says Eskom

By: News24Wire 6th March 2020 No load-shedding was expected on Friday and over the weekend, Eskom said. "Even though the generation system remains constrained, Eskom does not expect to implement load-shedding this weekend although unplanned breakdowns remain above the 10 500 MW mark," the State-owned power utility said via a... →

Company to improve processes with new furnaces

By: Cameron Mackay 6th March 2020 Local metalworking company Thomas Foundry is set to improve and increase the efficiency of its metalworking and manufacturing processes with the purchase of four new induction furnaces. The order was placed in September last year to replace three decommissioned furnaces – a 1 t furnace and two 5... →

FORGING AHEAD The company has purchased 4 new furnaces to reduce electricity consumption, improve quality and productivity, improving environmental compliance and reducing maintenance costs

Local foundry leads to AI partnership

By: Cameron Mackay 6th March 2020 With a strong focus on growing its international business, machine learning solutions provider, DataProphet, has signed a partnership with a leading metallic parts enhancement company, Norican Group, to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in the foundry industry. This came... →

SMART FOUNDRIES The aim is to improve manufacturing processes using AI in the foundry industry

IFC arranges debt financing package for Côte d’Ivoire gas-fired power project

By: Marleny Arnoldi 5th March 2020 The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has signed a £303-million financing package for a new gas-fired power project in Côte d’Ivoire. The total cost of the project, called Atinkou, will be £404-million. →

Eskom initiates liquidation of Trillian

By: Marleny Arnoldi 5th March 2020 State-owned power utility Eskom plans to start liquidation proceedings against Trillian Management Consulting and Trillian Capital Partners, in the North Gauteng High Court later this month. This follows after the Supreme Court of Appeal last month dismissed the two Trillian companies’... →

Nersa aiming to grant concurrence on Ministerial determinations within three months

By: Terence Creamer 5th March 2020 The National Energy Regulator of South Africa will release a consultation paper, possibly next week, which will formally initiate the public-participation process required to secure the regulator’s concurrence on two Section 34 Ministerial determinations that have been drafted by Mineral... →

Companies urged to embrace disruptive technology

By: Kim Cloete 5th March 2020 Companies and governments have been urged to embrace disruptive technology, as it can contribute to decarbonising energy and make it cleaner, greener and more accessible. Executives and experts attending the Africa Energy Indaba, in Cape Town, this week, outlined huge advances in electric... →

Lesedi keen to retain nuclear skills built up over years in South Africa

By: Kim Cloete 5th March 2020 South African engineering, procurement, construction and maintenance company Lesedi is keen to use its nuclear expertise and skills in South Africa and other African countries and is also looking to expand its focus to Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi. Lesedi has diversified its business and is active... →

Photo by Creamer Media
Koeberg power station

BBC has role to play in tackling South Africa’s economic crisis

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 4th March 2020 While the country is in an economic crisis, having just entered a technical recession and grappling with no economic growth, this presents an opportunity for the Black Business Council (BBC) and its members to find ways to help overcome the challenges, president Sandile Zungu said on Wednesday.... →

Photo by Creamer Media
BBC president Sandile Zungu

Scopa puts foot down to deal with debt owed to Eskom

By: Simone Liedtke 4th March 2020 The Standing Committee on Public Accounts plans to call a hearing with embattled State-owned power utility Eskom, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni and various stakeholders and provincial departments that owe Eskom money to come up with a solution for settling that debt. The hearing will take place... →

Mozambique commited to boost SA energy supply

By: African News Agency 4th March 2020 The government of Mozambique is exploring ways to enhance cooperation with South Africa in the energy sector, following South Africa’s Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe’s working visit to Maputo. Mozambique’s Energy Minister Ernesto Max Tonela held a closed door meeting with Mantashe last month.... →

Minerals and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe

Africa urged to ramp up its energy investment

By: Kim Cloete 4th March 2020 Getting more energy to more people in Africa is imperative, particularly as the continent's population is set to soar over the next few decades, the Africa Energy Indaba has heard. “This is an opportunity for all of us to move forward faster and further together,” World Energy Council secretary... →

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