Envisaged State petroleum company will be empowered to be involved in ‘any form of energy’

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has released a draft Bill for public comment outlining the establishment of the South African National Petroleum Company (SANPC), which the... 

Green growth and jobs

Transitioning South Africa’s energy ecosystem from its current over-reliance on coal to one progressively based on the country’s natural advantages of abundant sun, wind and land will take decades.... 

Mantashe says special Cabinet meeting will consider IRP update after Ministers request time to ‘apply their minds’

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe confirmed that an update of the Integrated Resource Plan, which he has previously dubbed ‘IRP2023’, had served before Cabinet on November 29,... 

Finding immediate steel alternatives a concern as AMSA prepares to wind down longs unit

ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) has indicated that it will enter discussions with buyers of its noncommodity long-steel products in an effort to limit the disruption that is set to arise because... 

Gore warns of ‘plateauing’ pace of delivery on power, logistics, crime reforms

Business Unity South Africa (Busa) president Adrian Gore has warned that the pace of delivery across the joint initiatives being taken with government on electricity, logistics and crime is... 

ArcelorMittal SA CEO sees no way of avoiding longs closure, says wind down to start in Jan

ArcelorMittal South Africa CEO Kobus Verster believes there is no immediate prospect of addressing the structural issues undermining the financial viability of the group’s long-products business... 

3 500 jobs at risk as ArcelorMittal mulls closure of longs units at Newcastle, Vereeniging

Steel producer ArcelorMittal South Africa has indicated that it may close its long-products business, which could result in the loss of 3 500 direct and contractor jobs at its Newcastle and... 

De-escalation in loadshedding forecast for coming week as country emerges from renewed Stage 6 trauma

Eskom is forecasting a de-escalation in the intensity of rotational power cuts for the coming week following the traumatic return of Stage 6 on Friday November 24 and complaints in certain... 

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

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... 

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

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... 

Regulator approves Eskom tariff discounts for ferrochrome groups

The Energy Regulator has approved six-year negotiated pricing agreements (NPAs) for ferrochrome smelters operated in South Africa by both Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture and Samancor Chrome. The... 

Light from the tunnel?

Reform progress in South Africa rarely moves in a straight line from A to B, with the stop/start nature of the country’s electricity reform being a case in point. Nevertheless, there is a... 

Aveng shifts 'epicentre' to Melbourne as it names Cummins as new CEO

The locus of JSE-listed construction group Aveng is set to shift to Australia following the appointment of Scott Cummins, who currently leads McConnell Dowell, to succeed Sean Flanagan as CEO, as... 

Sasol, Air Liquide conclude corporate PPA with Mainstream for 97.5 MW solar project

A 97.5 MW solar photovoltaic project will be constructed in the Free State following the signing of a 20-year corporate power purchase agreement (PPA) between Mainstream Renewable Power and... 

Baloyi selected to replace Grobler as Sasol CEO

Chemicals and energy group Sasol has announced the appointment of Simon Baloyi as its new president and CEO effective from April 1, 2024, when he will succeed Fleetwood Grobler, who will continue... 

Interim Infrastructure Manager set up to facilitate initial private access to rail network

Transnet has confirmed the establishment of an interim rail Infrastructure Manager, which will oversee the initial process of ensuring that the rail network is opened to private train operating... 

Transnet urged to engage before presenting a R100bn bail-out ‘invoice’

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has not “closed the door” on Transnet’s move to secure a reported R100-billion in balance-sheet support to assist with its recently released turnaround plan.... 

Language of incumbency

Two recent Eskom publications are heavily laden with the language of incumbency, which continues to go unchecked by a policymaker distracted by realpolitik rather than real solutions. The first is... 

There are already more clean-energy than fossil-fuel jobs and gap is set to widen

More people work in the energy sector today than in 2019, almost exclusively because of the growth in clean-energy sectors, which have employed more workers than fossil fuels since 2021, a new... 

Bill outlines broad ‘energy value chain’ mandate for State petroleum company

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has released a draft Bill for public comment outlining the establishment of the South African National Petroleum Company (SANPC), which the... 

‘Open and transparent’ third-party rail access system by April

State-owned freight logistics group Transnet has confirmed that an open and transparent framework for granting private train operating companies’ third-party access to the South African railway... 

$1bn World Bank loan to support South Africa’s energy reforms and decarbonisation

The World Bank has approved a $1-billion Development Policy Loan (DPL) to support market reports under way in the country, as well as South Africa's low-carbon transition.   

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

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... 

End of the beginning

News that 67 municipalities that collectively owe Eskom R56.8-billion, or 97% of the municipal arrear debt of R58.5-billion owed to the utility at the end of March, have formally applied to... 

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

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... 

Regulator approves Eskom tariff discounts for ferrochrome groups

The Energy Regulator has approved six-year negotiated pricing agreements (NPAs) for ferrochrome smelters operated in South Africa by both Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture and Samancor Chrome. The... 

Eskom fully prepared for recoding of 6.8m prepaid meters ahead of Nov 2024 deadline

Eskom insists its systems and strategies are in place to facilitate the seamless operation of the 6.8-million prepaid meters within its distribution areas after November 24 next year – the date by... 

Green Hydrogen Commercialisation Strategy approved

Cabinet has approved the Green Hydrogen Commercialisation Strategy (GHCS) for implementation, with the goal of positioning South Africa as a major producer and exporter of green hydrogen.... 

UK pledges R20m to identify African critical minerals prospects

The UK will make R20-million in funding available to help identify the most bankable opportunities for African countries to attract investment into the processing of critical minerals. Boston... 

Invest in grids today, or face gridlock tomorrow – IEA

The International Energy Agency (IEA) is warning that investment in transmission and distribution infrastructure is failing to keep pace with renewables projects, and is leading to a large and... 

Power in policy

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has never disguised the fact that he believes that Eskom could be turned around and loadshedding ended if he was made the shareholder-minister... 

Eskom warns of another R23bn loss as loadshedding underpins R24bn collapse

Eskom has warned that it is likely to report another R23-billion-plus loss for its current financial year to the end of March 2024, having belatedly confirmed a loss of R24-billion (R12-billion)... 

Municipal credit risk a big challenge as Eskom gears up to implement virtual wheeling

The credit risk associated with municipalities in arrears to Eskom poses a challenge to the roll-out of the utility’s proposed virtual wheeling platform and is also likely to limit the ability of... 

Study under way into producing green direct reduced iron at mothballed Saldanha Works

Steel producer ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) is moving ahead with a study into the production of green hydrogen directly reduced iron (gHDRI) at its mothballed Saldanha Steel Works, in the... 

Win-win solution

As outlined previously in this column, it makes sense to place exports at the heart of South Africa’s upcoming Green Hydrogen Commercialisation Strategy, despite misplaced concern that this... 

Transnet’s recovery plan premised on securing govt capital injection

Absent an equity injection or debt relief from government, Transnet chairperson Andile Sangqu says the State-owned entity will not be able to deliver on what he described as a “credible” recovery... 

$1bn World Bank loan to support South Africa's energy reforms and decarbonisation

The World Bank has approved a $1-billion Development Policy Loan (DPL) to support market reports under way in the country, as well as South Africa's low-carbon transition.   

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

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... 

Pace of energy transition will define South Africa’s economic prospects – Olver

Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) executive director Dr Crispian Olver says South Africa’s energy transition and the pace at which it progresses will determine the country’s long-term economic... 

Standard Bank to finance 4 GW of renewables projects in next 12 months

Standard Bank reports that it has financed 400 MW of distributed generation since government’s recent decision to allow utility scale projects of any size to proceed without a licence even when...