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Eskom cancels R11bn deals in South Africa crackdown

By: Bloomberg 19th July 2023 Eskom cancelled coal-supply agreements and construction contracts valued at R11-billion, as the South African authorities crack down on crime at the State-owned utility, President Cyril Ramaphosa said. Litigation by Eskom has also had coal-supply agreements worth R3.7-billion declared invalid,... →

Fitch maintains South Africa's ratings, says an ANC election loss won't mean new economic policies

By: News24Wire 18th July 2023 On Monday, Fitch again maintained its "BB-" credit rating on South Africa – despite now expecting no economic growth this year. The US credit rating agency kept its "stable" outlook on South Africa’s long-term foreign and local currency debt ratings. →

Jan Oberholzer to leave Eskom in shock development

By: News24Wire 18th July 2023 In a surprise announcement, Eskom said that the utility and its former COO Jan Oberholzer would "part ways by mutual agreement". Last month, Eskom confirmed that it had signed a two-year contract with Oberholzer to oversee key projects at coal-fired power station Kusile and nuclear power plant... →

Photo by Creamer Media's Donna Slater
Former Eskom COO Jan Oberholzer

Opinion: Does this count as a just transition investment?

17th July 2023 In this article, Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies research fellow Sandy Lowitt writes about the limited discussions that have been held about how just energy transition financing will be deployed in the South African economy. →

Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies research fellow Sandy Lowitt

Astron Energy rebrands one-hundredth site in South Africa

By: Cameron Mackay 17th July 2023 Petroleum products supplier Astron Energy has marked the rebrand of its one-hundreth service station in South Africa as part of the company’s mammoth project to rebrand its network from Caltex to Astron Energy. The latest service station to have been rebranded is Astron Energy Greenways in... →

The rebrand is part of Astron Energy’s 100th service station as part of the company’s project to rebrand its network from Caltex to Astron Energy

Loadshedding worsens, govt mulls concessions at coal-fired power stations

By: Creamer Media Reporter 14th July 2023 Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses the return of Stage 6 loadshedding against the backdrop of South Africa marking one year since the launch of the Energy Action Plan to tackle loadshedding, as well as the concessions under consideration by government and Eskom at the coal-fired... →

Loadshedding worsens, govt mulls concessions at coal-fired power stations

Brace for a weekend of Stage 6 loadshedding

By: News24Wire 13th July 2023 Stage 6 loadshedding will continue to be implemented over the weekend in order to replenish emergency reserves, Eskom said in a statement on Thursday. "The increase in the demand for electricity due to the cold weather, particularly on Monday and Tuesday, was anticipated, however this demand... →

Eskom Generation mulling concession models as it seeks to improve coal plant performance

By: Terence Creamer 13th July 2023 Eskom’s generation business is currently weighing various concession models as the utility assesses ways to improve the performance of its breakdown-prone coal-fired power stations in a context of ongoing financial constraints, as well as restrictions on the raising of new debt. Eskom Generation... →

Rapid action needed if African countries are to meet SDG7

By: Darren Parker 12th July 2023 For Africa to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) target of ensuring everyone can access affordable, dependable, sustainable and modern energy, there needs to be rapid implementation of comprehensive policies and the creation of a supportive environment in which United Nations (UN)... →

Stage 6 loadshedding returns

By: News24Wire 12th July 2023 Less than a week after Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said he was confident that Eskom had enough generating capacity to withstand the cold weather, the power utility announced the implementation of Stage 6 loadshedding. "Due to the loss of additional generating units overnight, the... →

Stages 2 and 4 load shedding to continue until further notice

By: News24Wire 10th July 2023 Eskom on Monday announced that Stage 2 and 4 loadshedding will continue to be implemented until further notice. This was due to increased demand, it said. →

As cold front hits, Ramokgopa expects loadshedding intensity to remain in check as attention turns to reducing frequency of cuts

By: Terence Creamer 9th July 2023 Electricity Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says the first part of the Energy Action Plan’s (EAP’s) two-part goal of reducing the intensity of loadshedding has been largely achieved as the plan approaches its first-year anniversary. However, he says more work is required to address the second... →

Electricity Minister Dr Kgosientsh Ramokgopa

Eskom to launch solar, battery tenders in 2024 as part of Komati ‘repowering’

By: Terence Creamer 7th July 2023 Eskom reports that concessional funding of $497-million secured for the repowering and repurposing of the Komati coal power station, in Mpumalanga, is expected to become effective at the end of July. The final unit of Komati, which entered into commercial operation in 1961, was shut on October 31... →

Solar panels in front of Komati's cooling towers

Civil society groups appeal Kusile's pollution exemption

By: News24Wire 6th July 2023 Civil society groups have lodged their appeal against a decision granting Eskom a temporary exemption to bypass pollution controls at Kusile. The exemption allows Eskom to run Kusile without flue gas desulphurisation (FGD), which is required to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions. →

Photo by Bloomberg
Kusile Power Station

Eskom’s approved plan to bypass pollution rules hit by appeal

By: Bloomberg 6th July 2023 Environmental activists have appealed against a South African government decision to allow Eskom Holdings to bypass equipment used to reduce sulphur dioxide pollution while it repairs one of its biggest coal-fired power plants. The appeal has been filed to the Department of Forestry, Fisheries... →

UN seeks to help developing countries access more funds for renewables investment

By: Darren Parker 5th July 2023 The world’s least developed countries rely on external sources for almost three-quarters of their energy investment but may pay up to seven times more than developed countries to access international capital markets, which is a major impediment to ramping up investments in renewables, United... →

Eskom to implement Stages 1 and 3 loadshedding on Wednesday and Thursday

By: Creamer Media Reporter 4th July 2023 Power utility Eskom will implement Stage 1 loadshedding from 05:00 to 16:00 and Stage 3 loadshedding from 16:00 to midnight on Wednesday and Thursday. Stage 3 loadshedding will also be implemented from 16:00 to midnight on Tuesday. →

The Tutuka power station

Eskom debt plan can reduce South Africa risks, Moody’s says

By: Bloomberg 29th June 2023 South Africa’s plan to provide its struggling power utility debt relief and potentially write off municipalities’ arrears to Eskom Holdings will ultimately improve liquidity and cut funding risks for the government, according to Moody’s Investors Service. The proposed R254-billion of relief... →

Thieves threaten World Bank-funded South African coal rail project

By: Bloomberg 28th June 2023 A World Bank Group-funded effort to increase train access to a power plant in South Africa’s coal-rich region has started to significantly backslide as criminals target the country’s rail system. Development of a 68-kilometer route between Ermelo, east of Johannesburg, and Eskom Holdings’s Majuba... →

The Majuba power station

Weather and winter tariff on large users helping to moderate electricity demand

By: Terence Creamer 26th June 2023 Eskom is expecting demand for the rest of South Africa’s winter months to remain below levels initially assumed when the utility finalised its base case for the high-demand season (see graphic above), while it is also beginning to report improved generation performance at some of its coal... →

Photo by Eskom
Electricity demand and Eskom's forecast of how electricity demand during winter 2023 will deviate from its winter base case

Eskom welcomes DFFE's decision to grant postponement of Kusile minimum emission standards

By: Cameron Mackay 26th June 2023 The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment’s (DFFE's) National Air Quality Officer (NAQO) has granted State-owned power utility Eskom a postponement to meet minimum emission standards (MES) at the Kusile power station, in Mpumalanga, from June 5 this year to March 31, 2025. This... →

The Kusile power station

South Africa must not be complacent with reduced loadshedding – BLSA CEO

By: Cameron Mackay 26th June 2023 Any reduction in loadshedding is welcome, but South Africa must not let it lull the country into complacency, stresses business organisation Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busi Mavuso in her latest weekly newsletter. She adds that south Africa’s electricity system remains unable to... →

Renewables growth did not dent fossil fuel dominance in 2022, report says

By: Reuters 26th June 2023 Global energy demand rose 1% last year and record renewables growth did nothing to shift the dominance of fossil fuels, which still accounted for 82% of supply, the industry's Statistical Review of World Energy report said on Monday. Last year was marked by turmoil in the energy markets after... →

Most of Eskom’s debt to be allocated to generation unit

By: Bloomberg 23rd June 2023 South Africa’s plan to split state power utility Eskom Holdings into three units envisions most of its R439-billion of debt being allocated to the generation business, which used most of the money. About R40-billion of debt will be held by the transmission unit, which is expected to be... →

A new approach to grid access in South Africa

By: Creamer Media Reporter 23rd June 2023 Engineering News editor Terence Creamer talks about the grid constraints, particularly in the Eastern, Western and Northern Cape; Eskom's approach to grid access to date and how it proposes to change that; and what else will be needed to deal with the issue of grid constraints. →

A new approach to grid access in South Africa

Netherlands, Eskom to implement just transition initiatives at Grootvlei power station

By: Schalk Burger 21st June 2023 The Kingdom of the Netherlands and South African State-owned power utility Eskom have signed a letter of intent to collaborate on the development and implementation of just energy transition (JET) initiatives to support job creation and community upliftment around the Grootvlei power station. The... →

The entrance to the Grootvlei power station

Opinion: Presidential Climate Commission’s electricity recommendations – a reflection from labour

21st June 2023 In this article, Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) head of policy Lebogang Mulaisi writes that the Presidential Climate Commission's electricity recommendation signals a potential structural shift in electricity planning for South Africa and what this could mean for labour.... →

Cosatu head of policy Lebogang Mulaisi

Small businesses need support as they take heavy strain from loadshedding crisis

By: Schalk Burger 21st June 2023 Up to 64% of small businesses in South Africa's townships stop operating when there is loadshedding, about 60% have had to reduce employee numbers to survive and about 7% have permanently shut their businesses as the costs to trade had become unrecoverable. These were some of the findings of a... →

Photo by Bloomberg
Small businesses are struggling to keep operating during loadshedding

Policy gaps, rigid legislation highlighted as key hurdles in just energy transition

By: Darren Parker 20th June 2023 Policy gaps and rigid legislation continue to hold back South Africa’s energy transition, according to a new report supported by diversified miner Anglo American and compiled by research organisation Economist Impact titled ‘Powering Progress: Policy shifts and economic frameworks to enable South... →

Renewable energy and fossil fuel sources

Eskom issues tender to implement socioeconomic development plan at Komati

By: Schalk Burger 19th June 2023 State-owned power utility Eskom has issued a tender seeking a service provider to drive the Komati power station socioeconomic development plan to assist with the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Part of the plan includes the management and implementation of mitigation measures... →

A solar plant at the Komati power station

Trade unions sign new wage deal with Eskom

By: Reuters 15th June 2023 South African trade unions at power utility Eskom have signed a new three-year wage agreement with a 7% pay rise for each year, two unions said on Thursday. Negotiators for the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) and Solidarity had been... →

South Africa seeks a way to allow Eskom to take on green debt

By: Reuters 15th June 2023 South Africa's finance ministry has appointed a consultant to come up with a plan by August to allow utility Eskom to accept-billions in loans designed to help it cut its carbon emissions when the government has blocked it from taking on new debt. Wealthy nations, including Britain, France,... →

Presidency outlines criteria to be used before revising coal decommissioning schedule

By: Terence Creamer 9th June 2023 The Presidency has moved to outline the criteria that will be used before any decision is made to delay the decommissioning of certain coal-fired power stations to take account of the prevailing supply deficit and has also dismissed suggestions that there is any plan to extend the life of the... →

Daytime loadshedding is back this weekend

By: News24Wire 9th June 2023 Stage 3 loadshedding will be implemented from 16:00 until midnight on Friday, as per previous notices, Eskom said in a statement. But after that, Stage 1 loadshedding will kick in from 05:00 until 16:00 on Saturday, followed by Stage 4 until midnight. →

Finance Minister denies Eskom partial exemption in terms of financial reporting

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 7th June 2023 Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has decided not to grant State-owned utility Eskom a partial exemption from disclosing irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure and material losses from criminal conduct in its annual financial statements, the National Treasury has announced. The Minister... →

No loadshedding during the day until further notice, with Stage 3 every evening

By: News24Wire 6th June 2023 Loadshedding will be suspended from midnight to 16:00 every day until further notice, with Stage 3 implemented over the evening peak, due to "further improvement on the available generation capacity". The Stage 3 load shedding will last from 16:00 until midnight. →

The Majuba power station

Loadshedding suspended until Stage 4 kicks in on Tuesday evening

By: News24Wire 6th June 2023 Eskom has announced that loadshedding has been suspended until 16:00 on Tuesday "due to an improvement in available generation capacity". However at 16:00, it will immediately jump to Stage 4 until 05:00 on Wednesday where it will move to Stage 1, as originally communicated. This pattern will... →

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