Weekly projects and energy updates in South Africa

Government forced to shelve nuclear deal after court ruling

Government will have to shelve processes already underway to procure 9.6 GW of nuclear energy.

This comes in the wake of Wednesday's Western Cape High Court ruling that government's nuclear plans are invalid and unconstitutional.

Earthlife Africa Johannesburg and the South African Faith Communities' Environment Institute brought the case in 2015.

Eye Witness News, 26 April 2017

GE claims Eskom favoured Chinese firm's bid, with backing of Trillian

General Electric (GE) has accused Eskom of rigging a tender for building a new boiler at its Duvha power station in Mpumalanga to go to Chinese state-owned company Dongfang even though its bid was ZAR1 billion more expensive than that of its rivals.

Documents seen by Business Day show Eskom’s decision to award the contract to Dongfang Electric Corporation came just eight days after politically connected advisory firm Trillian gave its submission the thumbs up in a last-minute risk assessment of bids submitted.

Business Day, 26 April 2017

Eskom delivers five mobile transformers after six-year wait

Following a rigorous procurement process, South African state-owned power utility, Eskom, has successfully delivered five mobile transformers to its Mkondeni unit in KwaZulu-Natal last month.

The plan to purchase the five 132/88-22/11KV mobile transformers started in 2011 and following a rigorous procurement process, Siemens was awarded the contract to manufacture the units.

All the five mobile transformers were delivered by March 2017.

ESI Africa, 26 April 2017

End to Eskom “stalemate” will unleash wind market in 2017 – GWEC

The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) expects a recovery in the deployment of wind projects in South Africa, following a hiatus in 2016 brought about by Eskom’s refusal to enter into power purchase agreements (PPAs) for renewable-energy projects procured in 2015.

In its Global Wind Report: Annual Market Update 2016, which was released in India on Tuesday, GWEC forecasts that South Africa, Kenya and Morocco will also lead a recovery in the African market, after a “relatively quiet 2016” across the continent.

The report shows that 54 GW of new wind capacity were added in 2016 – a performance that was below expectation, owing to a slowdown in deployments in China to 23 GW and smaller than expected markets in Brazil, Mexico, Canada and Africa, notably South Africa.

Engineering News, 25 April 2017

Energy fund chairman gives PetroSA board marching orders

Central Energy Fund (CEF) chairman Luvo Makasi has told the board of troubled state-owned oil company PetroSA to resign with immediate effect.

Leadership and management instability have plagued CEF subsidiary PetroSA, which has suffered huge financial losses over the past three years.

The shake-up comes two months after Makasi’s appointment as CEF chairman.

Business Day, 24 April 2017

The above reflects a summary of certain news articles published during the preceding week.