The fabricated argument that the energy transition is to blame for loadshedding in South Africa, rather than the dismal performance of Eskom’s coal and nuclear plants, is a social-media staple... 

Given the urgency to inject new electricity into South Africa’s load-shedding-prone grid, it is crucial that the procurement rhythm for utility scale projects be re-established and accelerated.... 

The load-shedding crisis and the attention given to the reconstitution of the Eskom board not only served to eclipse deliberations on Eskom’s request for a 32% tariff increase but also the linked... 

In any other year, Eskom’s request for a 32% tariff hike would have hogged the print and online media headlines and consumed hours of interview and talk-show time across all broadcast platforms.... 

Eskom’s summer outlook presented to lawmakers recently is incredibly disturbing and shows that the near-term prognosis for security of supply is as bad as it’s ever been. Even though the utility’s... 

The 40-page judgment delivered earlier this month by High Court Judge President Selby Mbenenge in relation to the granting and renewal of an oil and gas exploration right to Shell and partners off... 

The scale of South Africa’s energy transition challenge – and opportunity – is arguably not yet fully appreciated. Eskom itself estimates that at least R1.2-trillion in electricity investment will... 

South Africans won’t agree with all the analysis and recommendations contained in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD’s) latest report on South Africa. There is likely... 

From a high level the energy transition pathway for South Africa is clear. The country needs to shift from a highly centralised, top-down market structure to a more decentralised and bidirectional... 

Some sense seems to have prevailed at the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) regarding the implementation of a new electricity price determination methodology. In a statement... 

It goes without saying that having a plan to tackle load-shedding represents little more than the ‘end of the beginning’. That’s not to in any way undermine the importance of that beginning.... 

Opponents of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s strategy for tackling South Africa’s 14-year-old electricity crisis continue to argue, without evidence, that the interventions will have no impact on... 

Given the high levels of mistrust and misinformation in energy markets currently it has become increasingly difficult to discern what is required to improve the situation in the short-term, while... 

A recent bidders conference hosted by the Independent Power Producer (IPP) Office was instructive for many reasons. For one, it highlighted the technical and legal sophistication of the procurement... 

It’s beyond maddening that it has taken 15 years for government to respond with any real sense of purpose to the intensifying and increasingly debilitating load-shedding crisis. Doubly so, given... 

The implementation of Stage 6 load-shedding in late June should surely be viewed as a tipping point in the electricity crisis. True, the unlawful and unacceptably violent labour protests merely... 

Some solid, albeit slow, progress is being made to convert the $8.5-billion offer of concessional climate finance to accelerate South Africa’s transition from coal to renewables and to support... 

Besides analysis that has been conducted by Eskom in recent months to find solutions to South Africa’s intensifying electricity crisis, there are now at least three well-considered public-interest... 

There is no scarcity of advice on how best to stabilise Eskom and end the load-shedding crisis, which a new Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) report shows intensified again in... 

As Eskom moves to draft a comprehensive plan for ending the protracted electricity crisis, a series of interesting proposals are emerging on ways to end load-shedding over the coming two years.... 

Two recent energy events offered glimmers of light amid the intensifying risk of power cuts and the creeping threat of worker and community dislocation as a result of the transition from coal to... 

The gap between infrastructure ambition and implementation is now widening faster than the country’s power utility is able to shift its load-shedding stages from two to four. While the electricity... 

There is no question that Operation Vulindlela has done a good job in identifying the main obstacles to important structural reforms in key growth- and job-creating sectors such as electricity,... 

News that the 25 solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind projects selected late last year as preferred bids would not achieve financial close by the end of April as advertised came as no surprise. There... 

The politics surrounding both Eskom and South Africa’s now protracted electricity crisis has always been problematic. It was politics that prevented the implementation of the necessary market... 

Dear valued reader, Those of you who receive the physical Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine will no doubt have noticed already that we have made a fairly dramatic change to our paper. 

There will be much interest in the coming days as to whether all 25 of the wind and solar photovoltaic projects named as preferred bids in October are able to reach financial close. The projects... 

South Africans have rightfully paid detailed attention to the state of the country’s generation assets over the past decade and a bit as load-shedding has progressively intensified, precipitated by... 

Last week I wrote that South African policymakers should not misread the energy market signals that have arisen since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A note of caution written in light of indications... 

Policymakers should not misread the admittedly confusing energy market signals that have arisen since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The confusion has been driven largely by the scramble under way... 

There is significant concern, and rightfully so, about the outlook for fuel prices and security of supply following Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine in late February. No country is immune from... 

The most recent bout of load-shedding not only reconfirmed South Africa’s debilitating overexposure to coal, but also this country’s growing vulnerability to diesel price spikes and supply...