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National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has granted the new National Transmission Company of South Africa the first of its three much-anticipated operating licences, giving impetus to the long-awaited restructuring of state utility Eskom and the wider electricity supply industry . Nersa also approved government plans to procure 7.8GW of new capacity. The largest element of this is Eskom’s planned 3GW combined-cycle gas turbine plant in Richards Bay.

Nigeria’s Starsight Energy and South Africa’s SolarAfrica said on 1 August they had completed their merger deal, first announced in September 2022. The deal creates one of Africa’s largest renewable energy-focused commercial and industrial players.

Sibanye-Stillwater is investing in wind and solar procurement to power its operations across South Africa, as the mining and metals multinational seeks to offset poor electricity supply from state utility Eskom and achieve decarbonisation targets.

Toronto- and Stockholm-listed Africa Oil Corporation has increased its stake in Block 3B/4B, pointing to heightened interest in South Africa’s portion of the Orange Basin and the Canadian company’s efforts to emerge as a major E&P play in a region where the Venus and Graff finds off Namibia have aroused ever more excitement.

United Kingdom private equity investor Actis has agreed the sale of BTE Renewables to two French businesses, utility Engie and asset manager Meridiam, for $1bn. The deal covers a portfolio of almost 500MW of solar photvoltaic and wind power capacity in South Africa and Kenya.

Lagos-headquartered multilateral the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has set out its stall as a financier and partner for the continent’s energy transition, with a strategy to support renewable energy and critical minerals projects around the continent, as well as the development of battery manufacturing supply chains. The AFC also plans to continue supporting short- to medium-term energy needs by backing upstream and midstream gas projects and gas-to-power (GTP) developments. Marc Howard spoke to AFC executive director and chief investment officer Sameh Shenouda during the recent Africa Energy Forum in Nairobi.

Electricity wheeling is gathering momentum in South Africa, as the sector tries to address the country’s power crisis. However, further reforms may be needed to tariff structures to encourage more participants into the market, writes Tonderayi Mukeredzi.

Netherlands-based investors are setting up $1bn funds in both South Africa and Namibia, in partnership with local investors, to accelerate the development of green hydrogen projects in the two countries.

Mainstream Renewable Power (MRP) has provided more details of its plans to develop 610MW of solar power capacity close to Eskom’s coal-fired power plants at Majuba and Tutuka. The amount of solar power to be developed close to the Eskom plants is now set to reach more than 2.4GW, after French green hydrogen (GH2) developer HDF Energy said it had plans for 1,500MW of capacity.

Despite vigorous opposition from a number of quarters, the South African government’s recently appointed electricity minister – who has been given new powers – still wants to procure 2GW of emergency electricity in a revised contract with Turkish-owned Karpowership. Meanwhile, generation is not the only factor causing difficulties, as the grid reaches its limit in some parts of the country.

Mining and metals group Sibanye-Stillwater has signed its first power purchase agreement (PPA) and reached financial close for the 89MW Castle wind farm, near De Aar in Northern Cape province. The wind farm will supply Sibanye-Stillwater’s mining operations via a wheeling agreement with state utility Eskom.

Green hydrogen (GH2) developer HDF Energy has outlined to African Energy its plans to develop solar PV plants and hydrogen-based long-term storage across six sites near Eskom’s Majuba and Tutuka coal power stations.

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has approved plans by utility Eskom to procure 344.5MW of capacity from new solar PV and battery energy storage plants.

The cabinet has approved the merger of state-owned enterprises IGas and PetroSA, and the Strategic Fuel Fund (SFF) to form South African National Petroleum Company (SANPC).

Metals miner Pan African Resources continues to scale up investments in renewable energy projects to supply the group’s mines, having commissioned the 10MW Elikhulu Tailings Solar PV in May 2022. African Energy takes a closer look at Pan African’s power generation plans.