Weekly projects and energy updates in South Africa
Renewables sector welcomes Presidency’s support of renewables
The South African Renewable Energy Council (SAREC) has welcomed the Presidency’s clear support for the country’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP).
During his State of the Nation address on Thursday night, President Jacob Zuma announced that state-owned Eskom would sign the outstanding power purchase agreements (PPAs) for renewable-energy projects that had been procured during the most recent rounds of the REIPPPP.
Engineering News, 10 February 2017
Zuma says Eskom will sign renewables contracts amid disrupted, economy-focused SONA
President Jacob Zuma announced on Thursday that Eskom would sign the outstanding power purchase agreement (PPAs) for renewable energy projects that had been procured during the most recent rounds of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP).
Zuma made the announcement in his State of the Nation Address, which focused strongly on the economy, but was delivered against the backdrop of tightened security, including a controversial deployment of 441 soldiers to support the police to “maintain law and order during the opening of Parliament”, as well as growing opposition to his Presidency.
Engineering News, 9 February 2017
Revealed: The secret report Eskom doesn't want you to see
Eskom this week decided it would not release a long-awaited report into the parlous state of the power utility after all. This was a major U-turn after it had earlier invited the media, promising to release the two-year-old report that would reveal the root cause of its operational and financial meltdown in 2015, as well as shed light on the inordinate delays and cost overruns at its new power stations.
Instead, on Tuesday chairman Ben Ngubane said the board had received "legal advice" to the effect that the report must be released only to those who had requested access to it, in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act.
Business Day, 9 February 2017
Fossil-fuel friendly Trump might mean restrictions are lifted
U.S. President Donald Trump’s expressed support for coal, oil and gas may lift restrictions on the ability of multilateral investment guarantee agencies, such as the World Bank, to back projects like coal-fired power stations, Ernie Thrasher, CEO of Xcoal Energy Resources, said on Wednesday.
Although the World Bank approved a US$3.75 billion loan to Eskom in 2010 to build the Medupi power station, it was conditional on US$750 000 being used to finance renewable energy. In 2013, the World Bank decided it would finance coal-fired power only in "rare circumstances".
Thrasher said, at a panel discussion on securing finance for mining from partnerships and off-take agreements, that the Obama administration’s stance had affected developing countries that needed low-cost power to develop their economies. Trump’s friendlier policies towards fossil fuels might also encourage the U.S. to resume support for clean coal technologies, on which China was now more advanced.
Business Day, 8 February 2017
The above reflects a summary of certain news articles published during the preceding week.
