Search results

A consortium of TotalEnergies Renewables South Africa, Mulilo Energy Holdings, and Reatile Renewables have reached financial close on an agreement to supply 260MW of wind and solar PV energy to Sasol and Air Liquide at Sasol’s Secunda site in Mpumalanga province.

The Oasis consortium, led by EDF Group and Mulilo, has reached financial close on three battery energy storage system (Bess) projects in South Africa’s Northern Cape and North West provinces. The projects are part of the first round of the country’s Battery Energy Storage IPP Procurement Programme (Besippp).

A manufacturing plant that will produce crucial components for fuel cells and electrolysers is expected to kick-start South Africa’s budding green hydrogen industry. But while Isondo Precious Metals is confident of making progress, many more upcoming large-scale GH2 projects remain stuck at pre-feasibility stage, writes Tonderayi Mukeredzi.

South African state power utility Eskom is embarking on a solar power plant programme after obtaining licences to operate two solar PV plants, one in the Western Cape and one in Free State province.

The installation of a solar plant at Fortress’ Evaton Mall is the latest stage in a major programme of on-site, renewable C&I investment by the Gauteng-headquartered real estate group. Fortress also recently signed a 10-year wheeling agreement to use the Discovery Green renewable energy platform to buy electricity from a mix of utility-scale wind and solar sources.

Saudi developer Acwa Power has confirmed that the Redstone CSP plant in South Africa should reach its full generating capacity within days. In the 27 october statement, it also said its Kom Ombo solar PV plant in Egypt had reached full production capacity.

Several majors plan to soon follow Galp Energia to drill in Africa’s most exciting frontier play, while a number of potential partners contemplate farming-in to the Portuguese company’s Mopane asset. The potential for new discoveries and the likelihood of M&A activity has pushed the question of a future Namibian oil and gas industry to the top of the agenda, writes James Gavin.

Pretoria needs to find quick solutions to obviate a gas crisis before 2026. Large gas users say that apart from active engagements and some preliminary proposals, no practical and implementable strategies have so far been offered, muddling the future of the gas industry. Complementing public and private sector measures is seen as key to addressing the problem, writes Tonderayi Mukeredzi.

In a milestone moment for the newly unbundled South African grid, Norwegian developer Scatec has reached financial close on the Mogobe battery energy storage system (Bess) project. The plant, to be located near Kathu in the Northern Cape, will be the country’s first stand-alone Bess IPP.

Sasol’s Msenge Emoyeni wind farm has started commercial operations and is supplying power to the company’s Sasolburg site in the Free State, wheeled through the national grid. The project is part of a wider plan by the South African chemicals and energy giant to procure up to 1.2GW of renewable energy by 2030.

Explosives and chemicals company AECI’s 4MW commercial and industrial (C&I) solar PV plant in Johannesburg has started operations. The project is part of AECI’s four-phase programme, launched in 2021, to generate solar power across various manufacturing sites.

Pretoria faces an arduous job in financing its energy transition, which could cost as much as $500bn over the next three decades. The number and size of investments have been limited to date and the scarcity of funding threatens to stymie the government’s climate change targets, but local lenders are now stepping up to bridge some of the financial gap, writes Tonderayi Mukeredzi.

Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power has commissioned the 100MW Redstone concentrated solar power plant in South Africa’s Northern Cape. It marks further progress for the technology, which offers both intermittent and dispatchable solar generation but is often seen as too costly to develop. The plant brings total African operational capacity to 1.7GW according to African Energy Live Data.

Over the last two months South Africa and Zambia have enacted new liberalising laws and market regulations in an attempt to attract investment to their power generation, transmission, and distribution sectors.

French asset manager Mirova has invested $15m in renewable energy company SolarAfrica, to support its commercial and industrial (C&I) projects in South Africa.