South Africa’s state-owned power company will implement so-called stage-4 loadshedding until 4 p.m. on Thursday after more generation units broke down and as the utility rushed to replenish its emergency generation reserves.
(Bloomberg) — South Africa’s state-owned power company will implement so-called stage-4 loadshedding until 4 p.m. on Thursday after more generation units broke down and as the utility rushed to replenish its emergency generation reserves.
Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. initially planned to reduce power cuts to stage 2 — where it removes 2,000 megawatts from the grid — from 5 a.m. on Thursday.
A further update will be published later in the day, the state-owned utility said in a statement.
Read more: Eskom to Cut 4,000 MW From Grid Until 4pm Local Time Thursday
South Africa Signs Accords for 203MW of Power Under Emergency Plan (Aug. 30, 8:18 p.m.)
South Africa’s Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe signed agreements for renewable energy project with two additional preferred bidders.
The projects totaling 203 megawatts form part of the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme and comprise a combination of solar photovoltaic, onshore wind and battery storage technologies, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy said in a statement.
Read More: S. Africa Signs Accords for 203MW of Power Under Emergency Plan
Energy Fund for Farmers (Aug. 29, 3:23 p.m.)
South Africa’s government established a fund to reduce the effect of power outages on the agriculture industry and encourage investment in alternative energy, Agricultural and Land Reform Minister Thoko Didiza said.
The fund — a joint project between the Department of Agriculture and Land Reform and the Land & Agricultural Development Bank of South Africa — will provide a combination of loans and grants to qualified recipients, Didiza told reporters in the capital, Pretoria, on Tuesday. It will have 1.21 billion rand ($65 million), with 500 million rand provided by the department and the remainder as loans from the Land Bank.
“The priority will be on supporting dairy farmers, piggeries, poultry, all irrigated commodities and on-farm processing,” she said.
Eskom Posts 5 Billion-Rand Loss in First Quarter (Aug. 29, 2:40 p.m.)
Eskom posted a 5 billion-rand loss in the first quarter of its financial year, National Treasury’s Deputy Director-General of Public Finance Mampho Modise told lawmakers in Cape Town, without providing a comparative figure.
Revenue grew to 70.9 billion rand in the three months through June, from 66.3 billion rand a year earlier, driven by a 19% increase in tariffs from April 1, she said.
“Eskom’s profitability remains hampered by poor long-term financial sustainability arising from an inadequate tariff path, poor generating plant performance, escalating arrear municipal debt as well as high financing costs,” Modise said.
Read More: Eskom of South Africa Posts 5 Billion-Rand Loss in First Quarter
–With assistance from Paul Vecchiatto.
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