South Africa’s biggest cities are preparing to source their own power after the energy ministry this month approved letting them wean themselves off the state utility that’s subjected cities to outages for the past 13 years. Johannesburg and Cape Town, which have a combined population of about 10 million people, plan to diversify away from […]
Red tape thwarts South Africa’s green energy potential
Based on the government’s plan to add 2.6 gigawatts (GW) of as yet unprocured wind and solar capacity in 2022, the next auction could attract more than $2 billion in investment, a analysis of industry estimates found JOHANNESBURG: World-leading renewables companies are lining up to invest in South Africa’s energy sector and help remedy a […]
Eskom gets R6-billion loan for massive battery system
The New Development Bank will give Eskom a R6-billion loan to build a massive battery storage system. The bank made the announcement as part of a release on three projects it was funding: one each in South Africa, Brazil, and Russia. “The project is primarily aimed at meeting peak electricity demand, increasingly through renewable energy, and […]
ZAMBIA: Univergy will invest $200 million to produce 200 MWp from solar energy
The Japanese company Univergy Solar will invest 200 million dollars in Zambia to carry out two solar photovoltaic projects. They will allow 200 MWp to be fed into the national grid in 2020. A new independent power producer (IPP) is interested in Zambia. It is the Japanese Univergy Solar, with an extensive programme of projects […]
South African union threatens power shutdown over Eskom split
NUM, one of the largest unions at Eskom, fears that the government’s plan to split Eskom into different units for generation, transmission and distribution will lead to job losses JOHANNESBURG : South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) on Wednesday threatened to shut down the country’s power sector over the government’s decision to forge ahead […]
South Africa plans sweeping power sector reform as Eskom struggles
Government hopes split will increase efficiency PRETORIA : South Africa plans a sweeping overhaul of its power sector by breaking up loss-making state utility Eskom over the next three years and opening the industry up to more competition, a long-awaited government paper showed on Tuesday. Analysts welcomed the move but were sceptical that officials would […]