Eskom’s power system “remains tight and vulnerable” going into the summer because of increased maintenance.
Browsing: Energy and sustainability
South Africa should quicken the process of spinning off one of Eskom’s units as a first step toward overhauling its operating structure, according to two people familiar with the options being presented to the government.
Zimbabweans are relying on Tesla to help them pay their bills. Amid power outages of as long as 18 hours a day, Econet Wireless is turning to the Palo Alto, California-based automaker for batteries that can keep its base stations running.
Eskom has rejected proposals by national treasury that it sell some plants to reduce its debt mountain, a lawmaker said.
Eskom’s Medupi Unit 1 was synchronised to the grid on Tuesday evening, ahead of schedule. Unit 1 is the last unit to be synchronised to the grid at the Lephalale-based plant.
Government could decide that Eskom must sell some of its coal-fired power stations as part of the restructuring of the power utility, national treasury said.
Eskom, struggling with more than R440-billion in debt, has said it will take as long as three to five years to comply with the government’s plan to split the company into three separate units.
An acceleration in economic growth in South Africa could trigger power cuts, with state utility Eskom’s fragile generation system unable to respond to increased demand for electricity.
The cost of producing hydrogen using renewable energy sources is set to drop sharply over the next decade, making it competitive with supplies extracted from fossil fuels and enhancing its role in the clean energy transition.
Labour unions that oppose the government’s plans to split Eskom into three units will ultimately have to support the reforms, according to mineral resources & energy minister Gwede Mantashe.