On Friday, President Cyril Ramaphosa endorsed the first report of the Eskom Restructuring Task Team, and with it provided the clearest vision yet for the independent transmission system operator (ITSO). I welcome that endorsement unreservedly. Business Leadership South Africa has argued consistently, against resistance from Eskom itself, that an independent grid operator is the…
President Cyril Ramaphosa has endorsed a report by the Eskom restructuring task team setting out how to establish a fully independent, state-owned transmission system operator (TSO) that will own and control South Africa’s transmission assets and run the electricity market. “The TSO is a key enabler of a successful competitive wholesale electricity market that is…
Energy regulator Nersa has approved generation licences for four solar projects with a combined contracted capacity of 890MW, clearing another regulatory hurdle for the R16-billion final tranche of Bid Window 7 – the government renewables round that couldn’t award a single wind farm. Nersa said the licences, approved at its meeting on 30 June, cover…
Zimbabwe’s state power utility Zesa reported a nationwide power outage on Monday evening, saying a technical fault on its network caused the blackout at 6.24pm. Zesa said its technical teams were investigating the cause of the outage. Zimbabweans have long experience with blackouts, exacerbated by ageing equipment at power plants and foreign currency shortages that…
South Africa has committed to reaching phasing out human-caused carbon pollution by 2050. To get there, it needs to push as much renewable energy as possible into the national grid. The country is the world’s 15th largest carbon polluter. It’s one of only a handful of countries still heavily dependent on burning coal to generate…
Sola Group’s Springbok solar farm South Africa’s renewable energy sector is poised for a busy year, with multiple projects set to reach commercialisation or break ground as market confidence remains generally upbeat. According to industry body the South African Photovoltaic Industry Association, the country’s renewable energy sector is heading in the right direction. “The policy…
Eskom has formally created a new renewable energy subsidiary, Eskom Green, as part of its unbundling process – a move aimed at accelerating the utility’s expansion into South Africa’s fast-expanding clean energy sector. Government hopes to complete the unbundling by 2030. A phased approach will allow Eskom and the state to manage financial, legal and…
Mr Adelabu said the synchronisation will enable the country to optimise generation costs, deepen industrialisation, strengthen regulatory oversight, and expand its leadership in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) energy landscape. The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, on Wednesday said Nigeria has successfully conducted a grid synchronisation test connecting the national electricity grid…
The author, Paul Colmer Everyone’s talking about artificial intelligence. And I mean everyone. The hype reminds me of the fanfare around 5G’s launch – all promise, waiting to see delivery. We built and enabled those towers everywhere, and now? Well, let’s just say the revolution was somewhat overstated. Which brings us to the current question:…
A stabilising Eskom is starting to place a stronger focus on new technologies and the modernisation of the electricity grid. Last month, at the release of the state-owned utility’s annual results, CEO Dan Marokane said the utility is focused on “deepening the adoption of digitalisation in the business”, through measures such as the use of…
