South Africa will use future drawdowns of its Gold and Foreign Exchange Contingency Reserve Account to curb its debt burden, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said, adding he was pondering tax hikes and expenditure cuts in the next post-election budget. Africa's most industrialised nation is grappling with an ailing economy and high debt ahead of a general election on May 29 that could see the governing African National Congress party lose its parliamentary majority for the first time since the end of apartheid 30 years ago.

Standard Bank head of Southern Africa’s oil and gas coverage Paul Eardley-Taylor has suggested that South Africa needs 13 GW of gas-to-power (GtP) capacity, rather than the 7.2 GW to 8.6 GW outlined in the draft Integrated Resource Plan 2023. Speaking at mine ventilation solutions developer Howden’s Technology Day, hosted at Mintek, in Johannesburg, on April 17, he explained that this calculation was made by considering the need to overcome Stage 6 or even Stage 7 loadshedding, when Stage 6 was being regularly achieved, as well as ensure a 15% reserve margin for winter peak demand.

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has initiated consultations on Eskom’s latest Regulatory Clearing Account (RCA) application for the 2022/23 financial year, where Eskom is requesting R9-million, its lowest RCA application since the utility began making yearly submissions under the claw-back mechanism. Given that the amount is less than 2% of Eskom’s allowable revenue for the year, Nersa is not required to undertake public hearings. Nevertheless, a consultation document has been published, with virtual hearings scheduled for August 2 and 4 and a decision expected by December 2.

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has belatedly moved to quell concern that its recent approval of a new loadshedding code of practice, which increases the number of potential stages from eight to 16, represented a signal that the prospect for higher levels of loadshedding was imminent. Following extensive public consultations undertaken by the National Rationalised Specifications (NRS) Association of South Africa, the third edition of the NRS048-9 standard was approved by the regulator for use by Eskom and municipal system operators during times of electricity constraint.

Trade union Uasa has warned that if Gauteng's water disruptions are not addressed soon, the situation could end up as “a second Eskom”. South Africa was introduced to loadshedding in 2007, after State-owned utility Eskom announced it would implement rolling blackouts to avert the collapse of the national energy grid owing to insufficient generation capacity.

The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) Fiscal Transparency Evaluation Report has placed South Africa in the top three countries in terms of transparent fiscal practices, which National Treasury has welcomed. In July 2023, the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department (FAD) undertook a Fiscal Transparency Evaluation, at the request of National Treasury. Interviews were conducted with Treasury senior staff, government ministries, parliamentary committees, the Reserve Bank, civil society organisations, development partners, and Eskom.

Illegal connections are one of the leading causes of electricity-related injuries and deaths in South Africa, while also posing a risk of fires and electrocutions in communities. It also adds to the costs incurred by power utilities and municipalities and, in turn, impair their ability to provide services and repay debts, says CBI-electric: low voltage engineering executive Dr Andrew Dickson.

With the platinum group metals (PGM) basket price remaining at low levels, particularly with platinum pricing at about $935/oz currently, investors are looking at how mining companies are able to generate free cash flow, the cost of their operations and their commodity mix. Commenting on investors’ sentiment towards PGMs at the moment, JP Morgan metals and mining equity analyst Catherine Cunningham says investors favour the companies that are best able to weather the storm, should it continue for longer.

South Africa’s State-owned power utility Eskom said it’s in talks with government ministries over private and foreign options to fund a R390-billion expansion of its transmission network as more renewable generation comes online. Eskom supplies more than 80% of electricity to the continent’s most industrialised nation and has failed to meet demand, resulting in blackouts that have crippled the economy. The utility also owns, manages and maintains the transmission system and plans to build 14 218 kilometers of power lines over the next decade, more than three times what it has installed over the past 10 years. The company is holding “ongoing discussions with key government ministries on the funding of the South Africa’s transmission capital-expenditure requirements” that include the potential use of money pledged by rich nations toward an energy transition and another option to tap private sources, the utility said in an emailed response to questions. Foreign nations have pledged more than $9-billion in climate financing to South Africa through the so-called Just Energy Transition Partnership in 2021. France, Germany, the US, UK and European Union offered the money to help South Africa move away from coal, which is currently the source of more than 80% of the nation’s power.

With the ongoing energy crisis in South Africa, and the lack of generation capacity from State-owned power utility Eskom, diesel generator manufacturer Mahindra Powerol SA provides a range of generator solutions with the ability to be connected to solar power and inverter systems for the purpose of contributing to the reliability of hybrid renewable-energy systems. Mahindra Powerol SA MD Neal Palmer says the original-equipment manufacturer is currently in the process of testing an all-in-one hybrid unit that includes a diesel generator, solar photovoltaic (PV) energy, and an inverter that can be used by various industry players and businesses to enhance transition to a hybrid solution – comprising a seamless shift to easily accessible and diverse sources of energy.