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Terence Creamer

Terence Creamer is the Editor of Engineering News and a Deputy Editor for Mining Weekly. He also has editorial responsibility for Polity.org.za and Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa.

Editorial Insight

Trading in focus

By: Terence Creamer 15th November 2024 Few would disagree that aggregators and traders will have an important and increasing role in South Africa’s future electricity market. Even in the current environment, where the industry is still at the early stages of transitioning from its vertically integrated past structure to one where... →

Private embrace

By: Terence Creamer 8th November 2024 Building much-needed public infrastructure and scaling up private sector participation in the delivery of such infrastructure emerged as the key theme of the first Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) of the Government of National Unity. The document includes a full chapter, Chapter 5,... →

Ongoing adaptation

By: Terence Creamer 1st November 2024 It is positive that the current framework used by government to procure new generation capacity from independent power producers (IPPs) is under review. These programmes have been struggling to deliver ever since they were restarted in 2019 following a long period of disruption; precipitated... →

Age of Electricity

By: Terence Creamer 25th October 2024 The recent claim made by the International Energy Agency (IEA) that humanity is “moving at speed into the Age of Electricity” may not seem especially profound given that electricity has been a key part of the energy system for well over 100 years. Nevertheless, it is an important statement and... →

Whole greater than sum of parts

By: Terence Creamer 18th October 2024 The official launch of the National Transmission Company South Africa as an independent subsidiary of Eskom Holdings did indeed represent an important milestone in the restructuring of South Africa’s electricity industry for the changes under way domestically and globally. It is equally important... →

Growth glue

By: Terence Creamer 11th October 2024 The so-called second phase of the partnership launched between government and business to tackle South Africa’s electricity, logistics and crime crises under the Government of National Unity (GNU) has been generally welcomed. For President Cyril Ramaphosa the extension of the partnership, which... →

Mix(ed) messages

By: Terence Creamer 4th October 2024 It’s time for South Africa to interrogate its policy of pursuing a so-called ‘energy mix’, which may sound reasonable, but which has become little more than a convenient fig leaf for policy incoherence and confusion. True, it’s dangerous to pick winners and losers. It’s equally dangerous, though,... →

Distribution deadlock

By: Terence Creamer 27th September 2024 Few would disagree that the current financial and operational model for electricity distribution is no longer fit for purpose. This lack of sustainability is reflected in the continual rise in the arrear debt owed to Eskom, which currently stands at about R80-billion. It can also be seen in the... →

Hope beyond hype?

By: Terence Creamer 20th September 2024 The current scepticism surrounding the prospects for green hydrogen in South Africa and globally is only natural. A gap was inevitably going to arise between what many have termed “hydrogen hype” and the time it takes to advance what is really a policy-driven solution; one underpinned by the goal... →

Square peg

By: Terence Creamer 13th September 2024 The haste at which the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) is moving to remedy the embarrassment of having to withdraw the Ministerial determination opening the way for the procurement of 2 500 MW of new nuclear capacity is unseemly in the extreme. Given glaring irregularities with... →

Potential peril

By: Terence Creamer 6th September 2024 The assignment of shareholder responsibilities for State-owned enterprises (SOEs) that previously fell under the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) to line departments is an important, yet potentially perilous, development. Under this new political-governance arrangement, Alexkor falls under... →

Remedy required

By: Terence Creamer 30th August 2024 Given the grid-related uncertainties that have overshadowed Bid Window Seven (BW7) of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP), it was somewhat positive to see that 48 onshore wind and solar PV bids were received by the mid-August deadline. As expected, the... →

Upward pressure

By: Terence Creamer 23rd August 2024 At the first meeting between members of the Cabinet and senior business leaders since the formation of the Government of National Unity it was agreed that the National Energy Crisis Committee (Necom) should be repurposed as the risk of loadshedding continues to decrease. Energy Council of South... →

Vertical integration costs

By: Terence Creamer 16th August 2024 For some, the unbundling of South Africa’s vertically integrated electricity utility is viewed as a wonkish problem somewhat akin to insisting that line departments should not have shareholder responsibility for the State-owned enterprises (SOEs) for which they set policy. In both instances,... →

No easy road ahead

By: Terence Creamer 9th August 2024 Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa is correct when he says South Africa’s electricity pricing policy is in need of review, including the approach being taken to set tariffs and to subsidise poor customers. He is also correct in his assessment that there is a rising... →

Confidence or arrogance

By: Terence Creamer 2nd August 2024 As loadshedding wanes, Eskom’s confidence is growing. This is not a bad thing, as South Africa needs its State-owned companies to be places of delivery and, eventually, even centres of excellence. When self-confidence is earned, as it arguably has been at Eskom, albeit with outside assistance,... →

Growth levers

By: Terence Creamer 26th July 2024 It was far from certain only weeks ago how a government of national unity (GNU) of ten political parties, some with strongly divergent ideological positions, was going to agree on a common programme of action. In the event, that programme arguably found the GNU rather than the other way around. →

Leveraging firms

By: Terence Creamer 19th July 2024 South Africa, everyone agrees, has a growth problem. The country has performed poorly when compared with its middle-income peers for more than a decade, averaging growth of only 1.1%. There is also broad agreement that, at these levels, South Africa is unable to generate the jobs required to make... →

Rewards and risks

By: Terence Creamer 12th July 2024 The decision to again uncouple the energy portfolio from mineral resources and appoint Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa as the new Electricity and Energy Minister in the government of national unity has been widely welcomed. The move follows a sustained period of supply stability following two years of... →

Moment of consequence?

By: Terence Creamer 5th July 2024 As is the case for the country as a whole, South Africa’s industrial development is at “a moment of fundamental consequence”, to borrow a line from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s inauguration speech. “It is a moment when we must choose to either move forward together or risk losing all we have... →

Lack of transparency

By: Terence Creamer 28th June 2024 The tapering of loadshedding has arguably provided the Eskom board and executive team with some much-needed time and space to consider the future of the business without the daily distraction of crisis management. In the process, some significant decisions have been made that have consequences... →

Defusing CBAM

By: Terence Creamer 21st June 2024 South Africa is strenuously opposing the European Union’s (EU’s) Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) that, under its evolving design and coverage, could have a significant impact on the country’s trade with the bloc, which currently represents 19% of exports. This impact will be amplified... →

Reality check

By: Terence Creamer 14th June 2024 Regardless of composition, there are certain realities that South Africa’s new government cannot avoid. The first is an unemployment rate so high that, unless it is reduced materially, there is no way of dealing with dehumanising poverty, which can be eased by vital social welfare but not cured. →

Public protection

By: Terence Creamer 7th June 2024 The application by Eskom to preserve and reserve grid connection capacity for independent power producers (IPPs) participating in public procurement processes implemented in line with Section 34 of the Electricity Regulation Act (ERA) is not a surprise, but nevertheless raises serious questions.... →

Worth the ink?

By: Terence Creamer 31st May 2024 The National Council of Provinces’ (NCOP’s) recent approval of the Electricity Regulation Amendment (ERA) Bill has far-reaching implications for the future structure and operation of an industry that has been dominated by Eskom for more than a century. Unlike the controversial National Health... →

Unintended consequences?

By: Terence Creamer 24th May 2024 It is highly unlikely that South Africa would have made the progress it has in stabilising electricity supply and setting in place initiatives to halt the collapse of the country’s freight-logistics system had it not been for government’s decision to collaborate with the private sector. This is... →

Green stimulus

By: Terence Creamer 17th May 2024 South Africa’s manufacturing sector is in dire need of stimulus. In its recently released ‘Industrial Policy & Strategy Review’, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) confirmed that the sharp fall in the share of manufacturing in the country’s GDP and employment has posed a... →

Coalitions and reform

By: Terence Creamer 10th May 2024 With the 2024 election days away, attention is turning to the governance arrangements that will prevail nationally and in key battleground provinces following the poll and what these outcomes will mean for South Africa generally and the economy specifically. Pre-election polling has persistently... →

In the weeds

By: Terence Creamer 3rd May 2024 South Africa has gone some way in starting to reform its electricity industry, which has been failing the country visibly for nearly two decades. As these changes are published, consulted and implemented, however, it becomes increasingly apparent that South Africa is really only at the end of the... →

Reflect and recommit

By: Terence Creamer 26th April 2024 Memories are short and it often feels like they are becoming shorter not only because of the flood of information associated with the 24-hour news cycle but also second-by-second social media commentary that often distorts not only the present, but also the past. As South Africa marks 30 years... →

Mixed outlook

By: Terence Creamer 19th April 2024 The recent period of decreased loadshedding has been met with tremendous scepticism by a South African public who have been burnt more times over the past 15-plus years than a lump of wet coal. Most distant observers attribute the reprieve purely to the upcoming May 29 poll, and fully expect a... →

Attitudinal shift

By: Terence Creamer 12th April 2024 It is estimated that about 2.5 GW of rooftop solar was installed across South Africa last year; a trend that was expected to continue at the start of this year given that some 5 GW of solar panels were imported in 2023. It is not yet clear what impact the recent easing of loadshedding and the... →

Out of step

By: Terence Creamer 5th April 2024 Following wholly inadequate public consultations, stakeholders have submitted their written comments on the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy’s (DMRE’s) draft Integrated Resource Plan. Dubbed IRP 2023 despite having only been released in early January 2024 following months of delay, the... →

Important milestone

By: Terence Creamer 29th March 2024 The passing of the Electricity Regulation Act (ERA) by the National Assembly earlier this month represents a significant milestone in the ongoing evolution and reform of South Africa’s struggling electricity supply industry. The passage of the legislation through Parliament has not been smooth... →

In play

By: Terence Creamer 22nd March 2024 Confirmation that the curtailment framework outlined by Eskom in January is available to wind independent power producers (IPPs) preparing project submissions under Bid Window Seven (BW7) of the public renewables procurement programme currently under way could have a material impact on the... →

Not so quiet revolution

By: Terence Creamer 15th March 2024 For several years, the roll-out of rooftop solar, batteries and inverters has been referred to as South Africa’s quite revolution. While Eskom struggled to keep the lights on and government battled to re-establish a regular public procurement rhythm following the State-capture-linked disruption... →

Progress, but too slow

By: Terence Creamer 8th March 2024 There is growing impatience over the slow pace at which the South African government is moving to harness the $11.6-billion in concessional loans and grants pledged by several developed countries in support of the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET-IP). There is particular unhappiness... →

Full transparency

By: Terence Creamer 1st March 2024 The decision to drawdown R150-billion from the Gold and Foreign Exchange Contingency Reserve Account (GFECRA) to reduce government borrowings and surging debt-servicing costs was the major feature of last week’s Budget. The proceeds will help reduce government’s gross borrowing requirement from... →

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