South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will address the nation in the coming week about steps the government will take to alleviate the nation’s energy crisis, a governing party official said.
(Bloomberg) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will address the nation in the coming week about steps the government will take to alleviate the nation’s energy crisis, a governing party official said.
State officials are discussing an emergency package of measures and the president may make an announcement before the cabinet begins a strategy meeting on Feb. 1, African National Congress Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula told reporters Friday in Johannesburg.
“This is a crisis and we need emergency interventions,” Mbalula said of the rolling blackouts being implemented by state power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. that are resulting in electricity being cut for 10 hours or more a day. “An emergency package will be announced by government.”
Eskom Eases Power Cuts (Jan. 27, 8:07 a.m.)
Eskom cut 4,000 megawatts from the grid from 5 a.m. on Friday, instead of the 5,000 megawatts it planned to remove, until further notice, the power utility said on Twitter.
The South African Reserve Bank slashed its forecast for gross domestic product growth this year to 0.3% from 1.1% because of the power cuts. It forecasts rolling blackouts, known locally as load-shedding, may shave two percentage points off output growth during 2003.
Utility Sees 500 Megawatts Possible in Land Lease (Jan. 26 4:04 p.m.)
Eskom has issued a second tender for land leases that could see the building of as much as 500 megawatts of generation capacity, it said in a statement.
The request for proposals, that will close on Feb. 27, is part of a program to encourage private producers to develop projects that will contribute to electricity supply. The four parcels of land in the latest phase are in Mpumalanga province.
The initial process concluded lease agreements with five independent producers for the development of an estimated 1,800 megawatts.
Cape Town to Seek 1 GW of Power Supply (Jan. 26 1:29 p.m.)
Cape Town, South Africa’s second-biggest city, plans to make its biggest attempt yet to reduce its reliance on the ailing national power utility by holding a tender next month for the provision of as much as 1,000 megawatts of power to the municipality.
The tender will seek so-called dispatchable power, which can be supplied whenever it is needed from anywhere in the country. The move comes as the country’s endures its worst-ever energy crisis, with Eskom struggling to meet demand and imposing record blackouts.
Cape Town’s plans follow legislation passed in 2020 that allows municipalities to buy electricity from providers other than Eskom.
Johannnesburg Weighs Power Fund (Jan. 26 12:50 p.m.)
The City of Johannesburg is considering establishing an infrastructure fund to finance a 400 million-rand ($23-million) plan to implement measures aimed at mitigating power outages, Mayor Mpho Phalatse said.
The money would be used to fund the recommissioning of emergency power plants, the implementation of a system to regulate high-energy use equipment such as geysers and swimming pool motors, and the implementation of a smart-meter system to limit the amount of electricity distributed to residents’ homes, Phalatse said at a media briefing on Thursday.
The city plans to approach development-finance institutions, private companies and the government to finance the project, she said.
Blackouts Threaten Platinum Mines (Jan. 26, 11 a.m.)
South Africa’s worst-ever power blackouts that curbed platinum and palladium output in 2022 continue to pose a threat to production, according to Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd.
“If things don’t get better soon, then we are likely to have a worse period this year than last,” the company’s spokesman Johan Theron said in an interview. “If it gets worse, it will get to a point when you have certain days where we will stop sending people underground.”
South Africa mines roughly 70% of the world’s platinum and about 40% of all palladium, according to Metals Focus Ltd. Both are mainly used in autocatalysts that cut auto emissions.
–With assistance from Paul Burkhardt, Antony Sguazzin and Prinesha Naidoo.
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