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Transmission & Distribution News

South Africa's new energy plan is 'shoddy' and will probably fail – analysts

By: News24Wire 6th January 2024 South Africa's new energy generation plan lacks detail and leaves many unanswered questions, according to some energy analysts. The long-awaited draft of the Integrated Energy Plan (IRP) of 2023 was gazetted for public comment this week. →

Eskom ends grid access for Karpowership

By: Bloomberg 5th January 2024 Eskom Holdings said it will no longer reserve the transmission capacity it had agreed to set aside for winners of a South African tender for emergency power provision that didn’t meet a Dec. 31 deadline to complete their financial arrangements. The decision is a blow for Karpowership, the Turkish... →

Project achieves financial close

15th December 2023 Independent power producer EDF Renewables achieved commercial and financial close on its Umoyilanga project on November 28, 2023, reaching commercial close with the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), and then concluding financial close with financial institutions Nedbank, RMB and... →

A sunset picture of solar panels with wind turbines in the background ad reflecting off the panels

KILLER COMBO The combination of wind and solar energy as well as battery storage will be used at the Umoyilanga project

Eskom set for seventh full-year loss as power cuts grip South Africa

By: Bloomberg 13th December 2023 South Africa’s Eskom Holdings is on track to post its seventh consecutive full-year loss as the utility crumbles under the weight of its debt pile and high financing costs, poor plant performance and a ballooning municipality arrears book. The state-owned electricity provider posted a 1.62... →

Powerline industry warns it may not survive until grid roll-out ‘feast’ given current investment ‘famine’

By: Terence Creamer 13th December 2023 The Power Operations & Leadership Association of Southern Africa (Polasa) believes the famine-then-feast profile of Eskom’s execution plan for the roll-out of new transmission infrastructure will starve an already embattled domestic industry to the point where it will be unable to make the... →

Polasa chairperson Sagren Moodley

Nersa grants three electricity distribution licences in the Free State

By: Marleny Arnoldi 11th December 2023 The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has granted three licences to Klipfontein Solar Facility, Lieliehoek Solar Facility and Sonoblomo Solar Facility for the operation of electricity distribution facilities in Dealesville, in the Free State. The Klipfontein facility involves a 33... →

Eskom's new CEO confirmed

By: News24Wire 8th December 2023 Daniel Leseja Marokane has been appointed as chief executive officer of Eskom. On Friday afternoon, Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan said Marokane would join Eskom no later than 31 March 2024. →

Photo by Creamer Media
Dan Marokane

Hybrid solutions gain traction amid energy challenges

By: Nadine Ramdass 8th December 2023 As loadshedding continues to impact businesses, many corporates are opting for hybrid solutions that leverage grid, generator, and renewable energy, mainly solar, to alleviate the pressure of unreliable power supply. In addition to providing a more consistent energy supply, hybrid solutions can... →

Microgrids gain traction to combat critical outage impacts

By: Nadine Ramdass 8th December 2023 Microgrids are gaining traction globally owing to its ability to alleviate the impact of critical outages, caused by extreme weather, climate events, and various other reasons. Microgrids can secure and provide power for 'critical loads' such as hospitals and data centres when the main grid is... →

An image of Cresco Group’s decarbonisation advisor Dominic Goncalves

DOMINIC GONCALVES Integrating microgrids offers significant benefits in South Africa

South Africa set to pick Dan Marokane as new Eskom CEO

By: Bloomberg 7th December 2023 Dan Marokane is expected to be appointed as the new CEO of South Africa’s state power utility Eskom Holdings after an almost year-long search for a candidate, according to people familiar with the decision. The company’s failure to boost generation from its old and poorly maintained power plants... →

Eskom acknowledges difficult trade-offs ahead as it pursues energy transition

By: Darren Parker 7th December 2023 State-owned utility Eskom is expecting to have to make “difficult trade-offs” in its pursuit of a just energy transition (JET) strategy, as it grapples with ongoing short-term operational struggles and budgetary shortfalls. Speaking at a South African National Energy Association webinar on... →

Eskom acknowledges difficult trade-offs ahead as it pursues energy transition

Red Rocket confirms initial 500 MW of interest in 2 000 MW virtual wheeling renewables scheme

By: Terence Creamer 6th December 2023 Independent power producer (IPP) Red Rocket reports that it has signed up customers for 500 MW of the 2 000 MW of capacity it aims to deploy over the coming three years as part of an innovative scheme designed to provide multiple private offtakers with renewable electricity as from 2026. In... →

A turbine at sunrise at Red Rocket's Roggeveld Wind Farm

Curtailment framework submitted to Nersa as new deadline is set for restart of IPP procurement

By: Terence Creamer 1st December 2023 Eskom has confirmed that it has delivered a curtailment framework, as well as its proposed Gated Generator Connection Process (GGCP) to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) for approval. However, it is not yet clear whether either will be approved ahead of the restart of public... →

Four utility-scale battery projects worth R10bn selected following inaugural public tender

By: Terence Creamer 30th November 2023 The South African government has selected preferred bidders for the development of four utility-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) projects in the Northern Cape, with a combined investment value of R10-billion. The four BESS installations will have a combined capacity of 360 MW/1 440 MWh,... →

Night loadshedding drops to Stage 5

By: News24Wire 30th November 2023 Eskom announced a marginal drop in loadshedding on Thursday due to improved generation recovery and emergency reserves. Stage 3 loadshedding kicked in at 10:00, and will continue until 16:00, when Stage 4 will resume. However, Stage 5 loadshedding will be implemented from 20:00 until 05:00 on... →

Black Friday loadshedding triggered by depletion of reserves and heat-wave demand spike

By: Terence Creamer 24th November 2023 Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa attributed the “unwelcome” ramp up in the intensity of loadshedding to Stage 6 to a need for Eskom to rebuild its emergency reserves that had been depleted by the failure of large coal units during the week and a 1 500 MW spike in demand, which was... →

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa

Loadshedding and port congestion make headlines

24th November 2023 Creamer Media editor Terence Creamer discusses the lagging procurement of new electricity generation and addition of crucial grid infrastructure, as well as the dire situation at Transnet's ports and rail systems. →

Loadshedding and port congestion make headlines

Renewables bodies await publication of Eskom’s curtailment framework

By: Terence Creamer 23rd November 2023 The associations representing the wind and solar sectors as well as independent power producers (IPPs) more generally are eagerly awaiting a proposed curtailment addendum to Eskom’s Grid Connection Capacity Assessment (GCCA), which is published yearly to provide connection visibility for new... →

Power lines with wind turbines in the background

Report proposes replication of collaborative water model in electricity sector

By: Terence Creamer 20th November 2023 A new PwC report makes the case for replicating a collaborative infrastructure model that has been used in South Africa’s Limpopo province to provide bulk water to both mines and some 400 000 residents for the delivery of electricity infrastructure. Titled ‘Africa Energy Review 2023’, the report... →

IPG confirms increase in just energy transition funding to $9.3bn

By: Terence Creamer 20th November 2023 The enlarged International Partners Group (IPG) has reaffirmed its commitment to extend concessional funding to South Africa in support of the country’s Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET-IP) and has also confirmed that total financing commitments have been increased to $9.3-billion from... →

Cabinet approves Just Energy Transition Implementation Plan

By: Darren Parker 20th November 2023 Cabinet has approved the Just Energy Transition Implementation Plan (JET-IP), Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni announced in a briefing in Pretoria on November 20. “The implementation plan will guide South Africa's transition to a low-carbon economy through the scaling up of... →

Wind turbines, solar panels and power pylons

Eskom to add synchronous condensers to network, including repurposed Camden and Grootvlei generators

By: Terence Creamer 20th November 2023 Eskom is preparing to introduce 11 synchronous condensers – seven new and four repurposed – across its transmission system to support grid stability as the penetration of variable renewable-energy generators rises. The need for the synchronous condensers – to provide dynamic voltage support,... →

Photo by Eskom
Map showing the proposed locations for installing synchronous condensers

Next renewables bid window ‘will not be location agnostic’

By: Terence Creamer 19th November 2023 Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa reports that the country’s next renewables bidding round will “not be location agnostic” and will seek to direct projects to areas where there is sufficient grid connection capacity available. “This time we're going to be specific around where these... →

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa

Eskom's TDP in the spotlight

By: Creamer Media Reporter 17th November 2023 Creamer Media editor Terence Creamer discusses Eskom's update on the implementation of its Transmission Development Plan (TDP), as well as the implications for industry and developers. →

Eskom's TDP in the spotlight

Eskom’s hockey-stick shaped grid deployment plan comes under scrutiny

By: Terence Creamer 16th November 2023 The hockey-stick-curve shape of Eskom’s ten-year execution plan for delivering much-needed new transmission infrastructure continues to come under intense scrutiny from domestic industry, with warnings that the dearth of work in the early years is undermining their immediate sustainability and... →

Photo by Creamer Media
Lineworkers seen working on an Eskom transmission line

New Eskom curtailment framework to unlock 4 GW of grid capacity in wind-rich provinces

By: Terence Creamer 15th November 2023 Eskom has confirmed that it will release a curtailment addendum to its recently published Generation Connection Capacity Assessment (GCCA) that will unlock 4 GW of connection capacity immediately in the grid-constrained Eastern and Western Cape provinces. Published at the end of October, the GCCA... →

Eskom’s Hex battery the first of eight utility-scale projects being deployed across four provinces

By: Terence Creamer 9th November 2023 Eskom has officially started operating the first of eight utility-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) projects being introduced as part of Phase 1 of a World Bank-funded programme to add batteries with a combined storage capacity of 199 MW and the ability to discharge 833 MWh of... →

The 20 MW/100MWh Hex BESS site, in Worcester in the Western Cape

South Africa still weighing impact of charging Eskom interest

By: Bloomberg 9th November 2023 South Africa is still assessing the effect of adding interest to a R254-billion debt relief package for state-owned Eskom Holdings as the company prepares to split into three, according to a National Treasury official. Treasury announced in last week’s budget that it would convert the loans in... →

Municipalities owing Eskom R56.8bn apply to participate in debt write-off scheme

By: Terence Creamer 1st November 2023 The National Treasury has confirmed that a total of 67 municipalities, which collectively owe Eskom R56.8-billion, or 97% of the municipal arrears debt of over R58-billion owed to the utility at the end of March, have formally applied to participate in the debt write-off programme. The National... →

Energy independence crucial to addressing city’s financial distress – Tshwane Mayor

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 31st October 2023 The most important thing for the City of Tshwane is to rescue it from financial distress, and key to this mission is maintaining energy independence, executive mayor Cilliers Brink emphasised in a keynote address during the city’s Mayoral Energy Sector Roundtable, held in Pretoria, on October 31.... →

City of Tshwane executive mayor Councillor Cilliers Brink outlines solutions from the city’s Energy Task Team, including leasing of strategic assets.

South Africa's energy transition gathers pace

By: Schalk Burger 27th October 2023 Speakers across a range of disciplines and domains have said that South Africa's electricity market is transitioning to a more pluralistic market that will also include a much larger range of services to support generation, transmission, aggregation, grid balancing, energy trading, day-ahead and... →

Solar panels, wind turbines and transmission lines

Inside the Energy One Stop Shop and its drive to fast-track electricity projects

By: Cameron Mackay 27th October 2023 The Energy One Stop Shop (EOSS), officially launched by Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel on July 27, is in the ramp-up phase of a four-stage process aimed at fast-tracking the regulatory approvals required for new self-generation projects and projects that will be connected... →

Distribution crisis requires attention on same ‘scale and intensity’ as generation shortfall

By: Terence Creamer 24th October 2023 Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has described South Africa’s highly fragmented electricity distribution industry as a threat to energy security that warrants attention “on the scale and intensity” that has been given to the country’s generation shortfall in the recent past. Delivering... →

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa

Eskom targets 1 000 MW as it launches cross-border standard purchase offer

By: Terence Creamer 24th October 2023 South Africa’s electricity utility Eskom is aiming to contract for 1 000 MW of additional electricity imports from it regional neighbours using a cross-border standard offer programme (CBSOP), which was formally launched on October 18. The programme, Eskom says, is designed to simplify the... →

Top bond investor slams South Africa bid to fix State firms

By: Bloomberg 24th October 2023 Futuregrowth Asset Management, a South African money manager overseeing more than R190-billion of fixed-income assets, says the government’s draft legislation meant to address inefficiencies at state entities is “ineffective, overdue, vague, and contradictory”. The National State Enterprises Bill... →

Ramaphosa says battle against coal syndicates gaining traction

By: Lumkile Nkomfe 24th October 2023 President Cyril Ramaphosa has hailed the efforts by law enforcement agencies and the South African Revenue Service to bust coal smuggling syndicates operating in the country. Planned search and seizure operations targeting coal smuggling syndicates have gained traction across five provinces with... →

President Cyril Ramaphosa

‘Height of folly’ to develop overreliance on aged coal plants for future supply

By: Terence Creamer 23rd October 2023 Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says attention should shift to adding new and cleaner generation to the loadshedding-prone electricity system, acknowledging that it would be the “height of folly” to rely on significantly extending the life of the breakdown-prone coal stations. While... →

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa

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