Новости за 24.01.2024

Independent Power Producer (IPP) Office head Bernard Magoro has signalled that the projects bid during the current seventh renewables procurement bid window could carry a price premium, as bidders adjust to the spatial realities that have arisen as a result of the country’s prevailing grid constraints. Through the bid window, which was launched in December, government is seeking to procure 3 200 MW of onshore wind and 1 800 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity and a bid submission deadline of the end of April has been set.

Clarens, in the Free State, has become the first town in South Africa where residents are now equipped to manage their own electricity load through load curtailment. The town is already gearing up for smart city initiatives with smart metering and electrical vehicle charging stations already installed, as well as a well-diverse spread of small-scale embedded generators.

The South African downstream steel industry has urgently appealed to both steel producer ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) and the government to find immediate solutions that will allow the continued operation of the three AMSA plants that make up the company’s long steel business in South Africa. AMSA announced in November last year that the company would embark on a process to wind down its long steel business. The company cited the current low market demand and national constraints beyond the company’s control... Читать дальше...

Airbus Helicopters, part of the Europe-based global major aerospace and defence group Airbus, has reported that it secured 410 gross orders, or 393 net orders, for its aircraft last year. These orders came from 179 customers in 47 countries. Deliveries last year came to 346 helicopters, and preliminary figures indicate that the company secured 54% of the global civil and “parapublic” (Airbus’ term for police, customs, coast guard, rescue and emergency medical services) markets. “Airbus Helicopters’ order intake in 2023... Читать дальше...

South Africa’s national budget day has been confirmed for 21 February at 14:00, according a statement by the National Treasury on Wednesday. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana will "announce government’s spending, tax and borrowing plans for the next three years" in Parliament, it said. This year’s event will be closely watched, with Godongwana having said during the medium-term budget presentation in November that significant cost-cutting measures will be undertaken within the government and that... Читать дальше...

Nasdaq-listed American Resources Corporation’s ReElement Technologies has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with energy storage company Afrivolt to establish a lithium-battery and electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing ecosystem in Africa, with a specific focus on West Africa. Afrivolt aims to develop large industrial projects to support the build-out of Africa’s regional and global lithium-ion battery supply chains.

Mozambique approved an extended deal for DP World, Grindrod and other operators of its biggest port, including a $2-billion expansion that will further draw cargoes away from neighboring South Africa’s creaking trade infrastructure. The group, which also includes Mozambique’s state-owned railway operator, won a 25-year extension to run the port in Maputo, the capital, ending in 2058. The Council of Ministers approved the deal on Tuesday, according to a statement. The agreement includes investments... Читать дальше...

A new International Energy Agency (IEA) report on electricity highlights that per person electricity demand across Africa has been stagnant for three decades, making the continent a worrying outlier in electricity demand trends. As of 2023, 600-million people, or more than 40% of the African population, lacked access to electricity, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa.

A proposal to build South Africa’s and Africa’s first underground science laboratory has now moved into the project stage, with the launch of the Paarl Africa Underground Laboratory (PAUL), following a recent science symposium on the concept. Although South African scientists have set up temporary underground labs before, this will be the first permanent such facility in the country and continent, and only the second in the Southern Hemisphere (the first being in Australia). (The symposium was sponsored... Читать дальше...

South African energy company Aqora has rebranded to become Afrivolt, says MD Deshan Naidoo. The firm’s goal, however, remains the same – opening a lithium-ion cell gigafactory in South Africa, able to produce anodes, cathodes and lithium-ion batteries for stationary storage applications and, in the medium term, for electric vehicles (EVs). Procuring and processing the minerals and metals needed for the factory within Africa has become more of a longer-term plan, adds Naidoo, with cell ...

Keep an eye on Vanadium Resources (VR8). It’s a motivated ASX-listed, JSE-mulling junior that is thinking expansively in line with the potentially very long-life mine that it is setting out to develop in South Africa’s expansive Bushveld Complex. VR8’s Steelpoortdrift mine project’s 680-million-ton resource is poised to give the company a potential 180-year lifespan.

Annual consumer price inflation eased for a second consecutive month, to 5.1% in December from 5.5% in November. December's inflation rate was the lowest since August last year.  The median expectation of a Bloomberg survey of economists was 5.2%. The average consumer inflation last year is now calculated at 6%. That's lower than 6.9% in 2022. December's inflation decrease was driven by a decrease in fuel prices, which lowered the cost of transport. Prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages, household contents and services... Читать дальше...

Minister of Health Dr Joe Phaahla will, on January 25, preside over an official handover ceremony of mobile health clinics, cold chain and information technology equipment from the German Development Bank (KfW) to support efforts by the South African government to strengthen the public health system. The handover will take place at the Sobantu Community Hall, in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal.