Eskom latest: Eskom fund joins net zero asset owner alliance

Eskom Pension and Provident Fund has signed up for the United Nation’s Net Zero Asset Owners Alliance as it pursues plans to cut its green house gas emissions to zero by 2050.

South Africa’s biggest self-administered fund becomes the third signatory in the country after insurers ARC and Old Mutual, and is the fourth in Africa, according to data from the United Nations Environmental Program.

Members of the UN-convened Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance commit to transitioning their investment portfolios to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The members have $11 trillion in assets under management globally.

Eskom Pension and Provident Fund manages R190 billion ($10.3 billion)

Eskom latest: Power cuts intensify; emergency generation tapped ( July 12, 08:12 a.m.)

South Africa’s state power utility increased the intensity of electricity outages to the highest in more than a month, after an increasing number of its generating units broke down overnight.

Eskom will remove 6 000 megawatts from the grid  — known as stage 6 load shedding — from 2 p.m. until 5 a.m. on Thursday, it said in a statement. Stage 4 load shedding is currently in force and will be implemented again from 5 a.m. on Thursday, with the pattern being repeated until further notice, it said.

The last time stage 6 was implemented was June 3, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

More open-cycle gas turbines (July 12, 2:03 p.m.)

The electricity provider has ramped up the use of its emergency generation facilities since the weekend, as it tries to balance reduced capacity from its coal-fired plants with increased demand amid plunging winter temperatures.

During peak demand on Monday, Eskom used 22 open-cycle and other gas turbines, compared with 10 on Sunday, according to updates on the utility’s Twitter feed. The last time the company reported using more than 20 turbines was May 22.

US investment in transmission grid (July 11, 12:34 p.m.)

The US Trade and Development Agency announced a $1.3 million grant to help fund technical assistance to assess the economic, technical, commercial and financial viability of using new technologies to improve South Africa’s transmission grid, Business Day reported.

The provision of the grant could potentially help leverage as much as $200 million in additional financing, the Johannesburg-based newspaper said, citing USTDA director Enoh Ebong.

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