Eskom latest: CEO De Ruyter sees power cuts easing within days

Eskom’s Chief Executive Officer Andre de Ruyter said power cuts should start easing within the next 10 days when big generation units are expected to come back online.

The state utility ramped up power rationing to 4 000 megawatts from 6 p.m. Tuesday until further notice due to generation trips at its Kendal and Lethabo plants and has imposed a record 120 days of blackouts so far in 2022.

“We are doing everything possible to add megawatts to the grid,” De Ruyter told Johannesburg-based Radio Sonder Grense. “We have started buying power from Zambia, and we are looking at Mozambique and the private sector to add megawatts.”

The private sector has a total of 6 000 megawatts of new renewable projects in the pipeline, he said. Those projects were targeted after President Cyril Ramaphosa in July said companies will be allowed to build power plants of any size without a license to meet their own needs and to sell it to the grid.

De Ruyter said it will probably take another 18 to 24 months for that capacity to come onto the network.

Board to retain management (October 4, 08:49 a.m.)

Chairman Mpho Makwana said the company’s newly appointed board will retain the power utility’s management for the time being, as the South African company conducts an assessment of its power plants.

Makwana, who was named along with most of the new board last week, said the plants’ performance will be reviewed over the next 30 to 60 days to ascertain how to make them operational at an average of 75% of the time — a target set by Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan. Their so-called electricity availability factor, a measure of when they can produce electricity, is currently less than 60%.

Anglo, EDF form green energy venture in SA (October 4, 8:34 a.m.)

Anglo American Plc and Electricite de France SA agreed to form jointly owned Envusa Energy to develop wind and solar projects in South Africa.

In a first step, Envusa will develop more than 600 megawatts of wind and solar projects in the energy-starved nation, the companies said in a statement on Tuesday. Funding will include debt-financing and construction is expected to begin next year.

Landmark $8.5bn climate finance deal hangs in balance (October 3, 4:57 p.m.)

A landmark $8.5 billion deal to help wean South Africa off its dependence on coal is hanging in the balance amid fraught negotiations with rich donor countries over how the funds should be spent.

The climate finance deal, unveiled at UN-led talks in Glasgow last year, was hailed as a prototype for helping other coal-dependent developing countries transition to cleaner energy sources. Its success or failure could have a knock-on effect at next month’s COP27 summit in Egypt, which is expected to focus on the financing needs of poorer countries adapting to a warming atmosphere.

Power cuts drive factory activity to 14-month low (October 3, 11 a.m.)

Business activity in South Africa’s manufacturing industry fell to a 14-month low in September as electricity-supply constraints disrupted operations.

A gauge tracking business activity declined to 38.5 from 50.6 in August, Absa Group said. That’s the lowest monthly reading since July 2021, when deadly riots, looting and arson disrupted supply chains, industrial output and demand for manufactured goods. An outcome below 50 signals contraction.