Eskom’s four seasons

Listening recently to a live rendition of Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons as South Africa descended into yet another unwelcome bout of loadshedding, it did not require much imagination to compare... 

Electricity demand fell again last year amid rapid growth of solar installations

Demand for electricity in South Africa continued to trend down in 2024, a new Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) report confirms. It shows that peak demand was a per cent lower... 

Repurposed Twistdraai destoning plant key to Sasol’s plan for recovering Secunda’s output

Energy and chemicals group Sasol is repurposing its Twistdraai export coal plant as a destoning operation to improve the quality of coal being used in its Secunda gasifiers, in Mpumalanga, where it... 

Ramokgopa hints that new IRP includes ten-year delay to coal shutdowns

Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has given the strongest indication yet that the next edition of the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) will include a 10-year delay to the... 

Trade war blueprint

US President Donald Trump’s recently published trade policy agenda leaves absolutely no room for nuance. Not even the tiniest crack has been left to allow light to be shed on the possible... 

DEADLY CUT

The US government’s decision to halt funding for African HIV programmes was not unexpected. Nevertheless, the sudden manner of the withdrawal is both disruptive and potentially deadly for tens of... 

Big Red Rocket wind farm to supply green electricity to Richards Bay Minerals achieves financial close

Renewable energy independent power producer (IPP) Red Rocket has reached financial close on the first 242-MW phase of the Overberg Wind Farm, which will be built on 15 farm portions covering 8 721... 

Lower VAT hikes in delayed Budget not enough to secure full GNU backing

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana tabled his delayed Budget on Wednesday that included lower, yet still controversial, increases to the value-added tax (VAT) rate, as he sought to hold the... 

Ramaphosa insists South Africa will send envoys to ‘transactional’ US once offer is crafted

President Cyril Ramaphosa insists that his government intends following through on sending envoys to the US as announced during his State of the Nation Address but that it will do so once it has... 

Exasperated Ramokgopa warns of ‘casualties’ after latest loadshedding bout

Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has expressed exasperation and disappointment over the most recent implementation of Stage 3 loadshedding by Eskom over the weekend starting... 

Eskom implements Stage 3 loadshedding after losing Koeberg unit again

Eskom again resorted to Stage 3 loadshedding on Friday, after a loss of 2 700 MW in 14 hours, including Koeberg Unit 2, which was taken offline on March 2 and was meant to have been returned to... 

RFP for multi-line transmission package set for Nov

Note: This article has been written partly using information from documents provided to the media during the 2025 Budget lock-up prior to the cancellation of the Budget Speech on February 19. The... 

South Africa again flags mega oil refinery plan and expresses desire for regional partnership

The South African government has reiterated its stance that South African needs a mega oil refinery despite “fundamental changes” under way globally, including the transition to electric mobility.... 

NOA Group gearing up to supply wheeled electricity after securing trading licence

The trading arm of private energy company NOA is gearing up to supply wheeled renewable electricity to multiple customers in South Africa following the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s... 

What could go wrong?

The perils associated with assigning shareholder responsibilities for State-owned enterprises (SOEs) that previously fell under the Department of Public Enterprises to line ministries can no longer... 

South Africa confirms US withdrawal of $1.5bn Just Energy Transition Partnership pledge

The Presidency has confirmed that it has been formally informed that the US has withdrawn from the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), to which it had initially pledged more than... 

AMSA to proceed with closure of longs unit after talks with govt fail to yield solution

Steel group ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) has confirmed that it will proceed with the wind down of its longs business after talks with government failed to yield the “timely solutions required”... 

Soon-to-be-launched grid-funding instrument can be private participation template for all SoEs – Ramokgopa

Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says the private sector participation framework being developed for the transmission sector will be unveiled within five weeks, while... 

TNPA signs 25-year operator agreement for South Africa’s first LNG import terminal

South Africa’s State-owned Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) has signed a 25-year terminal operator agreement with Zululand Energy Terminals (ZET) for the development of the country's first... 

Has the inconceivable been made conceivable?

Absent that dreaded black sharpie, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana (consciously or unconsciously) engaged in a manoeuvre last week that bore more than a passing resemblance to the performative... 

Investment value of private projects registered with Nersa climbs to above R200bn

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) reports that it registered a further 143 renewables generation facilities with a combined capacity of 1 107 MW and an investment value of more... 

G20 energy work group set to meet amid divergence over just energy transition

The G20 Energy Transition Work Group will have its inaugural meeting this week to discuss the energy priorities that South Africa is seeking to place on the international agenda during its G20... 

Sasol cuts emissions-reduction capex as it confirms rejigged plan

JSE-listed Sasol has confirmed significant changes to its emission reduction roadmap (ERR), while also announcing material reductions to its capital expenditure requirements for implementing the... 

Repurposed Twistdraai destoning plant key to Sasol’s plan for recovering Secunda’s output

Energy and chemicals group Sasol is repurposing its Twistdraai export coal plant as a destoning operation to improve the quality of coal being used in its Secunda gasifiers, in Mpumalanga, where it... 

Eskom reduces loadshedding to Stage 4, but questions linger over Stage 6 shock

Eskom reduced the intensity of loadshedding to Stage 4 in the early hours of Monday morning after having shocked the country by rapidly ramping up the intensity of its rotational cuts to Stage 6 in... 

Eskom says maintenance focus to shift to balance of plant, after failures lead to shock Stage 6 return

After taking the shock decision to ramp up loadshedding to Stage 6 in the early hours of Sunday February 23 - having declared Stage 3 on Saturday - Eskom is aiming to bring a halt to rotational... 

Ramokgopa hints that new IRP includes 10-year delay to coal shutdowns

Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has given the strongest indication yet that the next edition of the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) will include a 10-year delay to the... 

AMSA postpones longs wind-down by month amid intense rescue talks with government

Steel producer ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) has postponed the wind down of its longs business by a month to allow talks with government on possible ways to prevent the closure to progress, as... 

Closing date for rail-slot bids extended to Feb 27

The Transnet Rail Infrastructure Manager (TRIM) has announced an extension, from February 7 to February 27, to the closing date for slot applications under the recently published Network Statement,... 

New Nordex head says South Africa remains key market, despite recent headwinds

Newly appointed Nordex Energy South Africa MD Robert Timmers says that South Africa is poised to be one of the multinational’s largest markets outside of North America and Europe in 2025. This,... 

What next?

Amid much hand wringing over President Donald Trump’s hostility towards South Africa, some clear-eyed analysis has emerged confirming that Trump’s enmity has not been triggered only by the new... 

Budget postponed to March 12 after GNU Cabinet fails to agree on two-percentage-point VAT hike

In an unprecedented development, the speaker of Parliament Thoko Didiza was forced to postpone the 2025 Budget address by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana on Wednesday. This, after Cabinet failed... 

JUWI building 340 MW of solar PV to supply SA corporates

Leading global builder and operator of renewable-energy projects JUWI Renewable Energies has announced that it is building three utility scale solar PV projects in South Africa with a combined... 

Discovery Green concludes five wheeling deals across resources, property and hospitality sectors

South African electricity trader Discovery Green has confirmed that it has signed supply agreements for wheeled electricity with five companies in the mining, property and hospitality sectors,... 

Eskom says delaying update to tariff structure will entrench incorrect price signals

Eskom has appealed to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) not to again postpone the implementation of a new retail tariff plan (RTP), warning that any delay would further entrench... 

New abnormal

In normal times, the State of the Nation Address (SoNA) would be the dominant political event in South Africa during the week of its delivery. These are far from normal times, however, so the SoNA... 

Steenhuisen urges unity in face of ‘new threat’ from US, while calling for changes to expropriation law and equity rules

Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen has called on the country to unite in the face of a “new threat” of possible US tariffs and even sanctions, following a rapid deterioration in relations... 

Energy council launches ‘Energise Mzansi’ information campaign

The Energy Council of South Africa has launched a communications campaign dubbed ‘Energise Mzansi’, which it says will seek to improve “energy transition literacy” amid rapid structural changes in... 

Mulilo gears up for big year of execution as it accelerates transition to integrated IPP

With several new renewables and battery storage projects under construction or being advanced to financial close, 2025 is poised to be a significant year in Mulilo’s ongoing transition from an... 

Gas markets set to stay tight in 2025 – IEA

Global natural gas markets reached an all-time high last year and are set to remain tight in 2025 despite an ongoing rebalancing following the supply shock of 2022/23, the International Energy...