Positive environmental news is rare. All the more reason to cheer an effort that might see wealthy nations help South Africa curb its coal addiction.
Browsing: Eskom
Energy regulator Nersa has rejected a multi-year revenue application by state-owned power utility Eskom, the regulator said in a statement.
Envoys from some of the world’s richest nations have met with South African cabinet ministers to discuss a climate deal that could see billions of dollars flowing in the country.
South Africa could save R100-billion by accelerating the closing of coal-fired power plants in return for cheap loans to fund a transition to cleaner forms of electricity.
South Africa’s mining industry has given its backing to moving the economy away from coal but said it must be done gradually and responsibly.
Mining companies in South Africa are considering spending as much as R40-billion to construct 2GW of power generation capacity.
Cabinet has adopted a more ambitious emissions reduction target ahead of a United Nations climate conference in November.
Eskom is facing a litany of challenges. Energy expert Anton Eberhard posed questions to the power utility’s CEO, André de Ruyter.
The US, Germany, France and the UK will send a delegation to South Africa as soon as next week to seek a deal to begin closing the country’s coal-fired plants.
Despite efforts to make Eskom profitable, including a process of unbundling its divisions into separate entities, “the core problem of debt” has yet to be addressed, Futuregrowth Asset Management has said.