ACWA Power plans to bid in South Africa’s next green electricity auction. Interest from the Saudi-based company is a positive sign after lengthy delays in a process to procure green power.
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Eskom will implement rotational power blackouts beginning at 5pm on Wednesday after the state-owned electricity monopoly failed to bringing generating units back online.
Eskom warned on Tuesday that if there is any further deterioration to an electricity system that is already under “severe pressure”, load shedding will follow, possibly as early as 5pm.
Absa, Investec and the Development Bank of Southern Africa indicated they could support a bid by a Turkish company to supply emergency power to South Africa, sources said.
A legal wrangle over a power supply contract worth an estimated R218-billion could derail the South African government’s attempts to ease electricity shortages.
Johannesburg, Africa’s dominant financial center, wants to meet 35% of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2030 and will seek proposals for privately supplied power by August.
There is a heightened risk of load shedding during the evening peak of 5pm to 10pm throughout the coming winter, Eskom warned on Tuesday.
Eskom has implemented rolling blackouts with immediate effect. The stage-2 load shedding will last until Tuesday night, the state-owned utility said in a statement at 5pm on Sunday.
Data published by Eskom this week shows that the utility has not been able to generate enough electricity to adequately meet peak evening demand.
Eskom doesn’t want to buy electricity from the company that won most of a government emergency power tender because it’s concerned about the cost and length of the contract, sources said.