South Africa is in talks to buy more than 1,000 megawatts of electricity from Mozambique, South African Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said.
(Bloomberg) — South Africa is in talks to buy more than 1,000 megawatts of electricity from Mozambique, South African Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said.
“In the short-term, Mozambique can provide 80 megawatts to South Africa and a further 1,000 megawatts upon agreement of stipulated terms,” the minister said via Twitter, following a meeting with his Mozambican counterpart.
Read: South Africa Seeks More Than 1,000 MW of Power From Mozambique
South Africa Plans for Payments Continuity If Power Grid Buckles (May 30, 10:38 a.m.)
South Africa‘s central bank is working on a contingency plan to keep the country’s payments system running in case of a power grid collapse.
The plan being developed by the Reserve Bank and other financial markets regulators including the Johannesburg Stock Exchange will ensure the orderly closing and reopening of markets, Deputy Governor Kuben Naidoo said on Monday.
The country’s power utility, Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., has warned that it will have to increase rolling blackouts over the winter months to prevent the grid from collapsing. The utility has been struggling to meet electricity demand, leaving the country in darkness for as long as 12 hours a day.
Tiger Brands Falls Most Since 1998 as Power Cuts Hit Profit (May 30, 7 a.m.)
Tiger Brands Ltd., Africa’s largest listed food maker, said the total cost of loadshedding, the local term for rolling blackouts, in its fiscal first half amounted to 76 million rand ($3.8 million), a more than sixfold increase from 12 million rand a year earlier.
This had an impact on Tiger Brands’ gross margins, which declined to 27% from 29.2% year-on-year. Maintaining full-year operating income in line with last year will be challenging if the current operating conditions persist, the company said in its results statement on Tuesday.
“Operating costs are expected to rise significantly as a consequence of higher levels of loadshedding during the winter season,” Tiger Brands said.
Read: Tiger Brands 1H Net Income 1.17B Rand Vs. 1.21B Rand Y/y
Energy Regulator Agrees to Eskom Power Purchase Plans (May 29, 6 p.m.)
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa approved a plan to allow Eskom to buy 344.5 megawatts of new generation capacity from solar and battery energy storage.
The regulator also approved the national free basic electricity rate of 172.76c per kilowatt-hour for the 2023-24 municipal financial year, effective from July 1.
Solar Panel Demand Soars in Cape Town (May 29, 3:38 p.m.)
Cape Town has seen a record number of applications to install solar power as South Africa’s electricity shortage worsens.
More than 2,300 of these requests have been made this year as of end-April, with the figure of almost 700 in March the highest to date, the City of Cape Town said in a statement. As an incentive, the city will offer to buy excess rooftop solar power from businesses and homes from later this year.
Read: Cape Town’s Demand for Home Solar Panels Surges on Power Outages
–With assistance from Khuleko Siwele, Paul Burkhardt and Mpho Hlakudi.
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