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Coal & Diesel News

NCOP votes to pass Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill

By: Creamer Media Reporter 17th May 2024 Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses the significance of the National Council of Provinces' (NCOP's) vote to pass the Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill; if the Bill is likely to face any opposition; and what further actions can be expected once the Bill becomes law. →

ANC walks political tightrope over coal plant shutdowns

By: Reuters 16th May 2024 In a ward where South Africa's governing African National Congress won handily in local elections three years ago, party campaign worker Poppy Vilakazi has been getting a decidedly frosty reception lately. "Mostly they are angry," she told Reuters, speaking in Komati, a village in the shadow of a... →

ANC leader Cyril Ramaphosa

Ramaphosa denies pre-election loadshedding respite is a ‘political ploy’

By: Terence Creamer 13th May 2024 President Cyril Ramaphosa has entered the politically charged discussion on the reasons behind the recent dramatic reduction in loadshedding ahead of what is expected to be a highly competition election and amid allegations that the reprieve is being staged managed to improve the governing... →

President Cyril Ramaphosa

Opinion: A symphony of solutions – South Africa’s tech-agnostic energy mix

10th May 2024 In this article, renewable energy solutions provider Scatec sub-Saharan Africa project development VP Alberto Gambacorta writes about the need for South Africa to adopt a technology-agnostic and diversified approach to power generation. →

Cooling company to highlight new concepts

By: Halima Frost 10th May 2024 After two successful webinars that unpacked the use of air-cooled condensers (ACC) for recoverable energy in power generation, thermal solutions specialist Industrial Water Cooling (IWC) aims to address future clients and investors at this year’s Enlit Africa 2024, which will be held at the Cape... →

An air-cooled condensers designed and manufactured by IWC

COOL AS A CUCUMBER According to thermal solutions specialist Industrial Water Coolin air-cooled condensers are the most efficient, green option for cooling

Genuine progress, not electioneering, behind the easing of loadshedding, council says

By: Darren Parker 9th May 2024 The current loadshedding reprieve is not a result of excessive diesel burning to pacify voters but rather a consequence of government and business coming together to made headway in solving South Africa’s electricity crisis, Energy Council of South Africa (ECSA) CEO James Mackay has said.... →

South Africa to provide new coal-plant closure timeline to secure secure $2.6bn

By: Bloomberg 8th May 2024 South Africa will provide a new timeline for the shutdown of coal-fired power plants in a bid to secure about $2.5-billion in climate finance, an agency in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office said. The timetable to be proposed to the Climate Investment Funds in June aims to ensure the country... →

Ramokgopa insists loadshedding not being ‘stage managed’ ahead of May 29 poll

By: Terence Creamer 6th May 2024 Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa denies that the prevailing reprieve from loadshedding has been “stage managed” to improve the prospects of the governing African National Congress ahead of the May 29 poll, attributing it instead to “orchestrated” engineering efforts undertaken by Eskom... →

Minister insists the recent period of no loadshedding is down to the improved performance of coal stations such as Matla (pictured)

Photo by Creamer Media
Minister insists the recent period of no loadshedding is down to the improved performance of coal stations such as Matla (pictured)

Eskom says generation recovery plan gathering momentum

By: Marleny Arnoldi 26th April 2024 During a State of the System address hosted on Friday, Eskom confirmed its generation recovery plan (GRP) is making tangible progress, with various coal-fired power station units having been refurbished, repaired or optimised. Launched in April 2023 following extensive stakeholder engagements,... →

Eskom executives discuss progress on the generation recovery plan and next steps

Electrical specialist says load curtailment in Ekurhuleni should be respected, or more outages may ensue

By: Marleny Arnoldi 25th April 2024 With the City of Ekurhuleni having entered into a load curtailment agreement with national power utility Eskom, this mandatory energy reduction has been met with some protest by businesses, but electrical control equipment provider CBI-electric:low voltage engineering executive Dr Andrew Dickson... →

Ramokgopa describes IPP surpluses as low-hanging fruit amid delay in finding contractual solution

By: Terence Creamer 22nd April 2024 Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa describes surplus electricity arising from existing renewable energy facilities as “low hanging fruit” in improving the supply-demand balance and reports that discussions are under way to assess ways to make this energy available to the grid. Speaking... →

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa

South Africa’s ranking in World Energy Trilemma Index falls

By: Terence Creamer 16th April 2024 South Africa has fallen to sixty-ninth from sixty-fourth on the World Energy Council’s (WEC’s) latest World Energy Trilemma Index which ranks more than 100 countries against the three key dimensions of energy security, equity, and environmental sustainability. The index is included in the ‘World... →

Eskom mulls private, foreign options on R390-billion grid build

By: Bloomberg 12th April 2024 South Africa’s State-owned power utility Eskom said it’s in talks with government ministries over private and foreign options to fund a R390-billion expansion of its transmission network as more renewable generation comes online. Eskom supplies more than 80% of electricity to the continent’s most... →

Electricity outlook for winter

By: Creamer Media Reporter 12th April 2024 Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses the halt in loadshedding over recent weeks; what South Africans should expect for the higher-demand winter period; and the longer-term outlook for South Africa's electricity sector. →

Electricity outlook for winter

Global coal power grew 2% last year, the most since 2016, GEM survey says

By: Reuters 11th April 2024 The world's coal-fired power capacity grew 2% last year, its highest annual increase since 2016, driven by new builds in China and decommissioning delays elsewhere, according to research published on Thursday. Despite record renewable additions, nearly 70 gigawatts (GW) of new coal power capacity... →

South African fossil fuel subsidies hit record R118bn in 2023 - IISD

By: Terence Creamer 10th April 2024 A new study has found that South Africa's fossil fuel subsidies tripled between 2018 and 2023, rising to R118-billion from R39-billion over the period, with subsidies having been increased largely in response to the surge in fuel prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Titled... →

Eskom aims to keep breakdowns below 14 GW this winter as it cuts diesel budget

By: Terence Creamer 9th April 2024 State-owned electricity utility Eskom will reduce planned maintenance to 3 000 MW during the upcoming winter season and will seek to keep unplanned breakdowns to below 14 000 MW in a bid to navigate the high-demand period with limited loadshedding. During the summer period, from September to the... →

Photo by Creamer Media
Eskom to ramp down planned maintenance to 3 000 MW in winter

Sasol granted permission to use load-based limit to regulate SO2 emissions from Secunda boilers

By: Terence Creamer 8th April 2024 Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy has granted Sasol South Africa permission to employ a load-based limit to regulate the sulphur dioxide (SO2) of its Secunda boilers in a decision upholding the JSE-listed group’s appeal of an earlier National Air Quality Officer... →

Photo by Creamer Media
Secunda complex

Eskom defends pollution record, saying it’s spending billions

By: Bloomberg 8th April 2024 South Africa’s State power utility, stung by reports about the health impacts of emissions from burning coal, said it’s spending billions of dollars to reduce them and has an ambitious target to reduce output of one of its most dangerous pollutants. Eskom Holdings said it’s committed to a... →

South Africa coal-plant closure delays risk thousands of deaths

By: Bloomberg 3rd April 2024 Delays to the planned closures of coal-fired power plants proposed by South Africa’s energy department could result in thousands of deaths from air pollution and lead to billions of dollars of health-related costs, an air-quality research agency said. The projection about the health impacts of... →

BLSA calls for immediate reworking of IRP, describing assumptions as ‘spurious’

By: Terence Creamer 2nd April 2024 Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA), whose members include the largest domestic and foreign companies operating in South Africa, has added its voice to a growing chorus of opposition to the draft Integrated Resource Plan 2023 (IRP 2023) and has called for it to be “revised immediately”.... →

Business Leadership South Africa CEO Busisiwe Mavuso

Eskom to implement Nersa-approved electricity price increase from April 1

By: Creamer Media Reporter 28th March 2024 Power utility Eskom has confirmed that it will implement electricity price increases, as approved by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa), from April 1. The utility in October 2023 applied to Nersa for the approval of its Retail Tariff and Structural Adjustment Application and... →

Eskom's tariff increases from April 1

Draft IRP 2023 lacks environmental, health, climate commitments, says Life After Coal

By: Schalk Burger 27th March 2024 Coal phase-out campaign the Life After Coal Campaign, in its comments on the draft Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) 2023, said the plan has fundamental flaws and expressed skepticism in the plan's ability to ensure cost-effective electricity supply, energy security and to uphold the Constitutional... →

A coal-fired power plant operated by Eskom

Companies unveil Kelvin power station carbon capture pilot project

By: Schalk Burger 22nd March 2024 The 600 MW coal-fired Kelvin power station, in Isando, Ekurhuleni, has installed a 300 m3/h flue gas emissions capturing pilot project, which removes carbon dioxide (CO₂), nitrogen oxides and sulphur oxides to make sulphuric acid, ammonium sulphate and ammonium bicarbonate (ABC) crystals. These... →

The carbon capture pilot plant at the Kelvin power station

IRP 2023 comment deadline fast approaching

By: Creamer Media Reporter 20th March 2024 Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses the fast-approaching deadline for public comment on the draft Integrated Resource Plan of 2023 and stakeholders' likely reaction. →

IRP 2023 comment deadline fast approaching

South Africa should get off global regulator's 'grey list' in 2025, says Kganyago

By: Reuters 13th March 2024 South Africa's central bank governor said on Wednesday that he was confident the country would be removed from an international financial crime watchdog's "grey list" next year, given the work that is under way to fix identified issues. The International Financial Action Task Force (FATF) last... →

Photo by Creamer Media's Donna Slater
Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago

Energy industry’s methane emissions near record despite pledges

By: Bloomberg 13th March 2024 Global methane emissions from fossil fuels held near a record high last year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its annual 'Methane Tracker' report, renewing concerns that governments and industry aren’t doing enough to stem releases of the devastating greenhouse gas. While the... →

Methane emissions in the oil and gas industry

Eskom mulls integration of Vgbe report recommendations into revised recovery plan but hints at ‘inaccuracies’

By: Terence Creamer 11th March 2024 Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says Eskom’s new CEO, Dan Marokane, will offer a comprehensive outline of a revised generation recovery plan that will seek to integrate recommendations arising from various expert reports into the state of the coal power stations, including the... →

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa

GDP figures cap decade of negative GDP per capita growth – BLSA

By: Schalk Burger 11th March 2024 While the gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the fourth quarter of 2023 was 0.1%, growth was negative in terms of GDP per capita, given that population growth is outpacing it. "We have been trending lower since 2013, and have now crowned a decade of negative per capita growth. South Africans... →

Locomotives used by Transnet Freight Rail

Business, govt meet to discuss electricity, logistics reforms

By: Creamer Media Reporter 8th March 2024 Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses the latest meeting held between senior business leaders and President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Cabinet; the feedback provided on efforts to tackle loadshedding; and a report back on the Transnet Recovery Plan and the reforms in the logistics sector. →

Business, govt meet to discuss electricity, logistics reforms

Move to formalise deal on injecting private skills into Eskom amid plan to add and recover 10.6 GW by end-2025

By: Terence Creamer 6th March 2024 Government and business have set a goal of increasing South Africa’s electricity generation capacity by 10.6 GW by the end of 2025 as part of ongoing collaborative efforts to tackle growth-sapping power disruptions and reduce the intensity and almost daily frequency of loadshedding by year-end.... →

Real progress being made against loadshedding in recent months, says Energy Council CEO

By: Rebecca Campbell 5th March 2024 The number of hours of loadshedding in South Africa has been cut by 67% over the past three-and-a-half months, Energy Council of South Africa CEO James MacKay highlighted on Monday evening. He was participating in an event in Cape Town, hosted by UK innovation agency Innovate UK, and UK... →

Energy Council of South Africa CEO James Mackay

Eskom says it is on track for permanent repair of Kusile stack by December

By: Terence Creamer 5th March 2024 Eskom insists it is on track to complete the repairs to the ducts in the west stack at the Kusile power station by December 2024, ahead of the March 31, 2025, deadline set by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) when it last year authorised the use of temporary stacks... →

Assessment of Eskom coal fleet warns ‘fixation on the EAF is a dead end’

By: Terence Creamer 1st March 2024 An expert assessment of the state of Eskom’s 14 coal-fired power stations conducted between March and May 2023 describes the prevailing “fixation” on the coal fleet’s energy availability factor (EAF) as a “dead end” that was leading to poorer plant performance. Conducted for the National Treasury... →

Eskom board tasks Marokane with three priorities in his first 100 days as CEO

By: Schalk Burger 1st March 2024 State-owned power utility Eskom's board of directors has tasked incoming CEO Dan Marokane to prioritise three key areas – assessing the generation operational recovery plan, reviewing Eskom’s unbundling plans and engaging with internal and external stakeholders – in his first 100 days in office.... →

Photo by Creamer Media
Eskom CEO Dan Marokane

South African researchers trawl through death records to assess coal impact

By: Bloomberg 29th February 2024 South African scientists plan to examine about 8.5-million death certificates to ascertain how many people the country’s dependence on coal for electricity is killing. The review is the first of its kind in Africa in that it will depend on actual data rather than modeling the effects of air... →

Multi-Party Charter reveals its plans to end loadshedding if ANC can be ousted

By: Darren Parker 28th February 2024 The 11 political parties that are members of the Multi-Party Charter (MPC) for South Africa have voiced a unified plan to end loadshedding once and for all if only they could collectively oust ruling party the African National Congress (ANC) at the upcoming national elections on May 29. The MPC... →

Watch Engineering News' coverage of the Multi-Party Charter (MPC) for South Africa's briefing on how it plans to end loadshedding, along with an exclusive interview with DA leader John Steenhuisen.

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