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

State-owned power utility Eskom has pledged that the power cuts that have dogged South Africa for decades could finally be at an end, as long as unplanned outages can be kept at their current level.

Canada’s Africa Oil Corporation has acquired an option to buy a 7% stake in Impact Oil & Gas from existing shareholders, as it continues its efforts to increase its exposure to the Orange Basin.

The 155MW Ummbila Emoyeni wind farm in Mpumalanga province is the first phase of a wider 900MW wind and solar PV project that includes an 800MW battery energy storage system (Bess).

French major TotalEnergies said in late July that it was withdrawing from South Africa’s offshore Block 11B/12B block, after deciding that the two gas discoveries made there were not economically viable. PetroSA had been hoping the gas could be used to supply its shuttered 45,000 b/d Mossel Bay refinery, which it wants to bring back online.

Johannesburg-based real estate investor Vukile Property Fund plans to increase its power generating capacity from rooftop solar PV to 41MWp by 2026, as part of a strategy to invest in alternative and cheaper electricity to supplement unreliable grid supplies to its shopping malls.

The National Nuclear Regulator (NNR)’s granting of a licence to state power utility Eskom to continue operating Koeberg nuclear power station’s Unit I for another 20 years should provide South Africa with greater energy stability. A review to extend Koeberg unit II by 20 years is still being carried out. South Africa is also making progress with plans to procure 2.5GW of new nuclear capacity.

The UK/Norway-owned IPP Globeleq has raised $99m of debt financing for Mozambique’s first wind project, adding to its southern African portfolio. Despite industry pessimism over the prospects for utility-scale projects, Globeleq is advancing a large pipeline of greenfield renewable and gas capacity in eastern and southern Africa and is bullish over the future of utility-scale projects, writes Marc Howard.

Wärtsilä has added 120MW of gas-to-power capacity in Nigeria so far this year, in a sign that demand for commercial and industrial (C&I) plants remains robust. Its strong pipeline of orders in West and North Africa notably includes large offtakers seeking to balance their grids and enable increased renewable energy capacity, the Finnish engine manufacturer told African Energy.

The ANC has kept control of a swathe of portfolios, as South Africa’s Government of National Unity has raised hope that the new coalition can speed reforms and implement more effective policies to tackle persistent economic challenges, write Tonderayi Mukeredzi and Jon Marks.

South African electricity supply industry (ESI) lobbies have welcomed the creation of the Government of National Unity's new Department of Electricity and Energy (Dee) as a positive development that will enable a faster energy transition.

State utility Eskom has announced that the Kusile coal-fired power plant’s 800MW Unit V has begun supplying electricity to the grid, while repairs continue to a damaged flue duct, which has taken three other units offline.

The National Transmission Company of South Africa opened for business on 1 July, marking an important step in the wider reform programme for state utility Eskom and the unbundling electricity supply industry.

South Africa has lost about 50% of its oil refining capacity since 2020, with three key refiners taken off line, leaving the country heavily reliant on imports for refined fuel products. Faced with a growing mismatch between local demand and supply, the authorities have been trying to encourage local and foreign investors to revive and expand the idle refineries and build new ones to ensure energy security, writes Tonderayi Mukeredzi.

Johannesburg-based Decentral Energy has started operations at a 1MW solar PV plant to supply power to the GWK Farm Foods maize mill in Christiana, North West province.