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Regulation News

Planning commission outlines case for Eskom split in new energy document

By: Terence Creamer 23rd February 2018 The National Planning Commission (NPC) has released a new discussion document on the energy sector, which reinforces the National Development Plan’s (NDP’s) “explicit” requirement for the system operations, planning, power procurement, purchasing and contracting functions within Eskom to be... →

South Africa to pilot first utility-scale vanadium redox flow battery

By: Nadine James 23rd February 2018 Aim-listed miner Bushveld Minerals’ 84%-owned energy subsidiary Bushveld Energy will be commissioning its first utility-scale vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) for testing by State-owned power utility Eskom in May, says Bushveld Energy CEO Mikhail Nikomarov. →

AfDB expresses strong support for new Eskom leadership

By: Terence Creamer 20th February 2018 The African Development Bank (AfDB), which has extended loan facilities worth a collective R20-billion to South Africa’s power utility Eskom, expressed confidence on Tuesday that the new leadership at the cash-strapped State-owned company would restore the group’s governance and creditworthiness.... →

Photo by Duane Daws
AfDB VP for power, energy, green growth and climate change Amadou Hott

Innovation and blockchain tech high on agenda at energy event

16th February 2018 Leading figures within the African energy scene will convene at the tenth Africa Energy Indaba (AEI), including at the World Energy Council's (WEC’s) annual Africa meeting, to discuss the importance of innovation and regional integration at a time when the energy sector is undergoing a major... →

Photo by Duane Daws
CHRISTOPH FREI Achieving a robust energy future in a context of the triple transition requires different approaches guided by innovative policies

Event to add value to African energy sector

By: Simone Liedtke 16th February 2018 To bolster the socioeconomic development of the African energy sector, Africa Energy Indaba (AEI) chairperson Brian Statham says thinking within the sector needs to be expanded. →

BRIAN STATHAM Diversity energy sources provide an opportunity to interconnect energy systems

Company first-time exhibitor at event

By: Simone Liedtke 16th February 2018 South African electrical engineering company Power Plant Electrical Technologies (PPE Technologies) will exhibit at the African Energy Indaba (AEI) for the first time this year. →

POSITIVE GROWTH TRAJECTORY Creating awareness of companies’ capabilities will lead to positive results in trade growth

Conference to foster entrepreneurial opportunities for women

By: Simone Liedtke 16th February 2018 To assist women in being successful renewable-energy entrepreneurs, the African Energy Sector: Scope and Opportunity discussion topic at this year’s Women in Energy Conference will focus on the entrepreneurial opportunities in the energy sector and how women can maximise their participation. →

NELISIWE MAGUBANE The conference will also provide insights and opportunities for career development and entrepreneurship for women who want to participate in the energy sector

Nuclear energy future imminent, despite delays in updated IRP

By: Simone Liedtke 16th February 2018 South Africa-based engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company Lesedi Nuclear Services (Lesedi) business development executive Shane Pereira believes that there is a future for nuclear power globally, although it is being hindered locally by the delay in passing the updated Integrated... →

SHANE PEREIRA South Africa has a strong nuclear industry

Framework continues to form sector foundation

By: Simone Liedtke 16th February 2018 The economic opportunity represented by the continent’s need for energy makes the African energy industry an attractive prospect for foreign investment, says law firm Norton Rose Fulbright director Lizel Oberholzer. →

LIZEL OBERHOLZER There is an ever-increasing opportunity for private sector renewable and alternative energy projects to support energy supply

Robust energy base key to industrialisation

By: Simone Liedtke 16th February 2018 Public-private partnership South African Electrotechnical Export Council (SAEEC) CEO Chiboni Evans states that Africa's industrialisation can occur only if countries have a robust energy base. →

CHIBONI EVANS The South African government strongly supports the industrialisation of the African continent

Growing need to fuel power demand in Africa

By: Simone Liedtke 16th February 2018 Energy transformation in Africa is necessary to ensure that the 600-million people on the continent who do not have access to energy gain access, says regional event Africa Energy Indaba (AEI) MD Liz Hart, who adds that the growing population and need for African industrialisation will continue... →

LIZ HART The growing population and need for African industrialisation will continue to fuel the demand for power

Editorial: Is Eskom loan a case of good money after bad?

By: Terence Creamer 8th February 2018 It seems an eternity since there has been anything to be excited about when it comes to South Africa’s most important, and most embattled, State-owned company (SoC), Eskom. Since 2008, the business has lurched from supply crunch to wet-coal chaos, from funding crisis to construction confusion,... →

Eskom looking beyond shareholder to tackle ‘unsustainable’ capital structure

By: Terence Creamer 30th January 2018 Having secured “in principle” commitments from funders to enable Eskom to meet looming debt obligations of R20-billion by the end of February, the new leadership at the power utility has started weighing various options, including asset sales, for shoring up the group’s fragile balance sheet.... →

Newly appointed Eskom chairperson Jabu Mabuza and acting CEO Phakamani Hadebe speak on governance, sustainability and Eskom’s immediate liquidity challenge. Camera Work & Editing: Darlene Creamer. Recorded:30.1.2018

AfDB renews commitment to connect 29.3m Africans to electricity grids

By: Megan van Wyngaardt 30th January 2018 The African Development Bank (AfDB) plans to provide 29.3-million people on the continent with access to electricity by 2020. Speaking during meetings of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, in Addis Ababa, at the weekend, AfDB president Akinwumi Adesina pledged support for the New... →

Nersa welcomes Mkhize as petroleum pipelines regulator

By: Megan van Wyngaardt 26th January 2018 The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has appointed Muzuvukile Mkhize as full-time regulator member responsible for petroleum pipelines regulation, following Cabinet approval. Mkhize will fill the role for a five-year term from January 16 this year to January 15, 2023. His... →

Changes at Eskom

25th January 2018 Creamer Media's Chanel de Bruyn speaks to Engineering News Editor Terence Creamer about the changes in Eskom’s leadership, the evidence given by former executives at the Parliamentary inquiry into State capture and the prospect of further tariff increases. →

Terence Creamer on the changes in Eskom’s leadership. (Camera & Editing: Nicholas Boyd)

UK announces further funding for small modular nuclear reactor programme

By: Keith Campbell 19th January 2018 The British government last month announced the next phase in its programme of funding the development of small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs), which forms part of a larger programme to develop the nuclear technology and energy sector in the UK. This phase will see Westminster awarding up to... →

Editorial: Eskom requires surgery not a Band-Aid

By: Terence Creamer 18th January 2018 Eskom’s debt refinancing is undoubtedly a critical burning platform. The clock is most definitely ticking and the consequences of not closing the immediate financial chasm will be dire not only for the utility, but also for citizens. That said, government is extremely unlikely to allow Eskom to... →

Calls made for far-reaching Eskom restructuring as sustainability risks mount

By: Terence Creamer 9th January 2018 Eskom’s current financial situation makes it difficult to see any other path to sustainability than that of drastic cost-cutting, restructuring and bringing private equity into the business, Energy Intensive Users Group of Southern Africa (EIUG) past chairperson Piet van Staden argues. In an... →

Business Leadership SA slams executives’ reinstatement at Eskom

By: African News Agency 5th January 2018 Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) has slammed the reappointment of Matshela Koko and Prish Govender at power utility Eskom, saying this flew in the face of complying with the rule of law and undermined efforts to restore confidence in the economy. BLSA said it was shocked and dismayed that... →

Photo by Duane Daws
BLSA chief executive Bonang Mohale

Eskom reinstates embattled executives Matshela Koko and Prish Govender

By: African News Agency 3rd January 2018 South African power utility, Eskom confirmed on Wednesday that former acting chief executive Matshela Koko and former acting group executive for group capital, Prish Govender, have been reinstated after they were cleared in disciplinary hearings. Eskom spokesperson, Khulu Phasiwe, said that the... →

Gigaba backs lower tariff hike, says Eskom a drain on fiscus

By: News24Wire 18th December 2017 Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba said on Saturday that he supports the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa’s) decision not to grant the nearly 20% tariff increase Eskom had applied for as the current state of the economy wouldn’t have been able to support this. Nersa on Friday, granted... →

Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba

Proposed carbon tax ‘least-cost manner’ to ensuring greenhouse-gas reduction – Treasury

By: Schalk Burger 15th December 2017 The National Treasury released the Second Draft Carbon Tax Bill for public comment on Friday and averred that it “seeks to give effect to the polluter pays principle . . . and will assist, in a least-cost manner, in reducing greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions and ensuring that South Africa meets its... →

SA power plant listed 4th dirtiest in world's 'Dirty Dozen'

By: News24Wire 12th December 2017 South Africa’s Thabametsi project has been listed as one of the “Dirty Dozen projects”, twelve fossil fuel projects worldwide environmental groups say exemplify the massive volumes of public finances still flowing to fossil fuel projects, which are driving climate change. The list comes as world... →

No further IRP consultations as Cabinet approves plan and 27 renewables projects

By: Terence Creamer 7th December 2017 Energy Minister David Mahlobo reported on Thursday that Cabinet approved an updated Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) for electricity during a marathon 12-hour meeting on Wednesday and that the new plan would be published without any further public consultation. Briefing the media at an ‘Energy... →

Energy Minister David Mahlobo

Zuma promises ‘seamless’ ANC transition at energy indaba that sidesteps IRP debate

By: Terence Creamer 7th December 2017 President Jacob Zuma used his address at the Energy Indaba, taking place in Johannesburg this week, to assure business and investors that the upcoming African National Congress (ANC) elective conference would be “orderly and peaceful”, while promising a “seamless” handover to the new ANC... →

President Jacob Zuma and Energy Minister David Mahlobo

Kganyago concerned another big power tariff hike will trigger grid defections

By: Terence Creamer 6th December 2017 South African Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago has added his voice to a growing chorus of concern that South African businesses, and even high-income households, could defect from the electricity grid in numbers should Eskom prevail in its bid for a 19.9% tariff increase from April 1, 2018.... →

South African Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago

Nersa says special power deal for Silicon Smelters must start on July 1 or earlier

By: Terence Creamer 6th December 2017 The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has confirmed that a special pricing agreement (SPA) between Eskom and Silicon Smelters, which was approved in August, should commence no later than July 1, 2018, and continue for a maximum of two years. Silicon Smelters, a subsidiary of... →

Nersa shifts Eskom tariff decision to December 13

By: Terence Creamer 4th December 2017 The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) confirmed on Monday that it would announce its decision on Eskom’s 2018/19 revenue application on December 13, instead of the December 7 date initially set for the determination. “The date has been changed due to more time being required to... →

Necsa shuts down key unit because of compliance failure

By: Keith Campbell 1st December 2017 The South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) has executed an immediate shut down of its NTP Radiochemical Facility, because of non-compliance with licensing conditions. NTP produces radioisotopes for both industrial and an especially medical purposes, and many cancer and other patients in... →

Grid operators turning to batteries as costs fall and need for flexibility rises

By: Terence Creamer 28th November 2017 The standalone cost of battery energy storage remains above South Africa’s prevailing, albeit rising, electricity tariffs, but could already be commercially viable in some instances when the “stacked benefits” of the technology are taken into account. A levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) study... →

Photo by Duane Daws
Eskom's battery energy storage test site at Rosherville, in Gauteng

Mahlobo’s call for ‘modular’ electricity roll-out at odds with nuclear ambition

By: Terence Creamer 27th November 2017 Energy Minister David Mahlobo’s latest Parliamentary reply, in which he argues that there is no longer a need to build large generation units, owing to the availability of low-cost smaller generation options, is at odds with his support for a large-scale nuclear build programme. In response to... →

Photo by Duane Daws
Energy Minister David Mahlobo

Growing domestic demand at heart of plan to create a million manufacturing jobs

By: Terence Creamer 24th November 2017 The Manufacturing Circle released a plan on Friday outlining how South Africa could create a million jobs over a ten-year period through pursuing a series of reforms designed at stimulating demand for South African manufactured products and improving the investment climate. The 48-page document,... →

Photo by Duane Daws
Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies and Manufacturing Circle chairperson André de Ruyter

Power and utilities drone market worth more than $9bn

By: Donna Slater 24th November 2017 The international drone market comprising solutions that use drones for the power and utilities industries is worth as much as $9.46-billion a year, according to a report published by professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). →

Africa specialist punts local presence as key to capitalising as infrastructure spend set to boom

By: Megan van Wyngaardt 23rd November 2017 Through innovation in the energy sphere, Africa is slowly starting to overcome historical blockages that have prevented the continent from achieving economic growth and creating sustainable jobs, according to energy consultancy Africa House director Duncan Bonnett. Speaking at a PowerGen and... →

South African nuclear body shuts down key unit because of compliance failure

By: Keith Campbell 22nd November 2017 The South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) has executed an immediate shut down of its NTP Radiochemical Facility, because of non-compliance with licensing conditions. NTP produces radioisotopes for both industrial and an especially medical purposes, and many cancer and other patients in... →

Photo by Duane Daws/Creamer Media
An aerial view of Necsa’s complex at Pelindaba

Eskom’s ‘death spiral’ under the microscope

By: Terence Creamer 21st November 2017 A major topic of discussion during recent public hearings into Eskom’s 2018/19 revenue application, was whether a further double-digit tariff hike could trigger a “utility death spiral”, whereby rising tariffs and utility costs spark an exodus of energy-intensive customers from the network,... →

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