Creamer Media's Energy Roundup is a monthly report providing a synopsis of energy-related news from South Africa. The April 2021 roundup covers activities in March 2021, and includes details of State-owned power utility Eskom’s commitment to complying with South Africa’s tightening minimum emission standards; Eskom’s progress on its so-called reliability maintenance programme to improve the performance of its coal fleet; the eight preferred bidders selected as part of government’s 2 000 MW emergency procurement programme, as well as the launch of the much-anticipated fifth bid window for the procurement of new wind and solar.

Coal markets had a tough 2020. Demand collapsed as the Covid-19 pandemic swept the globe, gutting energy use and shutting down industrial activity. The pandemic came at a time when coal already faced a perfect storm of fast-expanding renewables growth, cheap natural gas prices and an increasing awareness among governments and investors of the need to reduce carbon emissions. What the future holds for coal is further clouded by the fact that many financial institutions and corporates have divested from the coal energy sector, while others have committed to reducing their investment in the sector and large coal miners are retreating from thermal coal mining. Further, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on wealthy nations to end coal use by 2030, so that the world can meet its goal of reducing global warming and end the “deadly addiction to coal”. Creamer Media’s 'Coal 2021: What is the future of coal?' report reviews developments in South Africa’s coal sector and its prospects in the energy transition era, focusing on the business environment at home and abroad; it’s main participants and some of the smaller producers in the sector; as well as environmental considerations that have come to the fore.

Creamer Media's Energy Roundup is a monthly report providing a synopsis of energy-related news from South Africa. The March 2021 roundup covers activities in February 2021, and includes details of the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse and the Helen Suzman Foundation’s  opposition to Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe’s proposal to procure new nuclear power capacity; State-owned power utility Eskom’s preparation for a pioneering request for proposals (RFP) to repower and repurpose the Komati power station, in Mpumalanga; and African infrastructure development fund manager Harith General Partners’ plans to build the first gas-fired power plants in Gauteng.

Creamer Media's Energy Roundup is a monthly report providing a synopsis of energy-related news from South Africa. The February 2021 roundup covers activities in January 2021, and includes details of Electricity Intensive Users Group of Southern Africa’s concerns about the operational and financial stability of Eskom; the South African government’s plans to launch three procurement rounds for 6 800 MW of renewable energy over the next year; and Renergen’s appointment of three companies for the engineering studies for Phase 2 of its Virginia gas project.

South Africa’s telecommunications landscape has undergone significant transformation over the past decade, with a shift from offering telecommunications services to a myriad of digital services that are highly dependent on data, across some of the most advanced infrastructure in Africa. Mobile subscriptions and Internet penetration continue to increase year-on-year and data consumption continues to grow. Further, commercial fifth-generation service deployments are under way and fibre networks and data centre markets are expanding rapidly to meet the growing user base. Creamer Media’s Telecommunication 2020/21 report reviews South Africa’s telecommunications market in this context focusing on the country’s major telecommunications companies, industry trends and challenges, international connectivity and policy and regulatory developments.

The need to drive the world's carbon emissions down has prompted widespread interest in the development of green hydrogen, with the number of policies and projects increasing rapidly worldwide. The aim is helping countries and regions to not only meet their commitments under the Paris Agreement but also recover and rebuild, following the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Creamer Media’s Hydrogen 2020/21 report delves into the global hydrogen sector, focusing on developments in South Africa and Africa, as well as the US, Europe, Asia and Australia. The emphasis of this report is primarily the potential of this sector to be a source of clean energy that will help decarbonise world economies and assist in achieving global climate change mitigation goals.