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1. $90bn World Bank and African Development Bank plan on the table to electrify Africa.
The World Bank Group, together with the African Development Bank (AfDB), has committed to providing access to electricity to 300-million people in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2030. Known as “Mission 300” the plan is attracting widespread interest and support. Mission 300 is an electrification initiative that recognises the critical role of electricity in driving economic and social development across Africa, where over 600-million people currently lack access to reliable power. The initiative requires US $90bn to meet its target, with an initial $30bn already pledged from public and private sectors. The World Bank has committed $25bn, while AfDB contributed $5bn. Additional funds will come from philanthropic organisations and climate-focused entities like the Rockefeller Foundation and the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP),and regional organisations like the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). Mission 300 focuses on sustainable and clean energy solutions such as mini-grids, solar power and rooftop installations to provide energy to underserved regions, and relies on partnerships between governments, regional organisations and the private sector, which are seen as crucial to scale transmission, distribution and energy infrastructure on the continent. Mission 300 is tied closely to broader development goals, including reducing poverty and fostering climate resilience. Increased energy access will power hospitals, schools, and climate-resilient agriculture, helping African nations to better withstand climate impacts. The initiative aims to address the severe energy deficit in Africa, where 83% of the world’s unelectrified population resides.
2. Eskom and Sasol MoU to pursue plans to end gas cliff and facilitate gas-to-power.
At a media briefing on 20 September 2024 addressed by Energy and Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, Eskom CEO Dan Marokane and Sasol CEO Simon Baloyi, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was announced between Sasol and Eskom. The MoU is one the first public signs of serious and concerted efforts by government, Eskom, Sasol and the private sector to address a looming “gas cliff” in South Africa resulting from Sasol's announcement that it would cease natural gas and methane rich gas supply to industrial gas users in Mpumalanga, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal from June 2026. A gas supply cliff would have significant socio-economic and job-loss implications and would threaten key industrial sectors that rely on natural gas and methane-rich gas, including steel, glass, ceramics, automotive, food, beverage, pulp and paper, among others. According to the Industrial Gas Users Association - Southern Africa (IGUA-SA), a gas supply cliff would put approximately 60,000 direct jobs at risk as many industries that depend on gas could face operational shutdown. The latest Eskom and Sasol MoU announced on 20 September 2024 appears intended to facilitate, expedite and aggregate demand for imported LNG-based gas to mitigate the looming gas cliff for industrial gas users and to unlock gas-to-power in South Africa. In the first instance, Minister Ramokgopa stated that the MoU would focus on facilitating and expediting the planned Matola LNG import terminal and the floating storage and regassification facility near Maputo in southern Mozambique, followed thereafter by locally based LNG import and regassification infrastructure at Richard Bay in South Africa.
3. Unplanned shutdown of Koeberg Unit 1 left Western Cape with no nuclear power.
After initially remaining silent following an unplanned shutdown of 950 MW Unit 1 at Koeberg nuclear power station on 11 September 2024, Eskom finally acknowledged the outage on 16 September, but only after this had already been revealed publicly by civil society NGO, Koeberg Alert Alliance, and in the media. The outage occurred while Unit 2 at Koeberg was also down on an unplanned outage after it failed to return-to-service in July 2024 after a seven-month planned outage for replacement of its three steam generators. This left the Western Cape and South Africa without any operating nuclear power until Unit 1 was resynchronised again on 20 September and ramped up to full output a week later. A belated media release from Eskom explained that Koeberg Unit 1 was shut down after one of its isolation/block valves on the steam pressure relief system failed its three-monthly routine test. Eskom said that at no point was the safety of the plant, staff, public or environment at risk, and that all stakeholders who were required to be notified were informed as per “stringent protocols”. Clearly the media and the public were not included in the list covered by Eskom’s stringent protocol. Although the loss of 1900 MW from Koeberg nuclear reactor Units 1 and 2 demonstrated that Eskom had sufficient generation reserve capacity at the time to avoid loadshedding, the incident increased the vulnerability of the Western Cape to a regional blackout and resulted in significantly higher usage of Eskom’s Ankerlig and Gourikwa emergency open-cycle gas turbine (OCGT) peaking plants in the Western Cape.
4. After much speculation, Eskom application for 36% electricity price increase confirmed.
After details of Eskom’s draft multi-year price determination (MYPD6) revenue application for its 2025/26, 2026/27 and 2027/28 financial years was leaked to the media several weeks ago, the final MYPD6 application was published on the National Electricity Regulator (NERSA) website on 23 September 2024 for public comment. The published document confirms that Eskom is seeking to increase its average electricity price (R/kWh) to its direct customers by 36.15%, 11.81% and 9.10% for the next three years respectively, commencing 1 April 2025, and to municipal electricity distributors by 43.55%, 3.36% and 11.07% for the next three years commencing 1 July 2025. The closing date for written comments by affected parties and the public is 1 November 2024, and NERSA will be holding public hearing around South Africa on Eskom’s MYPD6 revenue application from 18 November to 4 December 2024. NERSA intends to make its determination in respect or the MYPD6 application by 20 December 2024. The price increases for which Eskom has applied have been referred to as “untenable and unaffordable” by Energy and Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, and are expected to kindle fierce opposition by electricity customers. Not included in the Eskom’s MYPD6 application or published on the NERSA website yet, is a separate application by Eskom requesting approval by NERSA for changes to its tariff structure. This is expected to include significant changes to the fixed and variable components of Eskom’s tariffs for residential, commercial, industrial, mining, agricultural, transportation and municipal customers.
5. Battle over R324m storage costs in DMRE fiasco involving 13,000 solar water heaters.
In an address to the South Africa Parliamentary Committee on Energy and Electricity, Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) Director General Jacob Mbele indicated that the department is engaged in litigation with several manufacturers of solar water heaters over a R324.8m bill related to the storage of uninstalled units. The dispute involves four manufacturers – KEAP Energy, Vivasol, Clean Heat and Adzam – who are withholding over 13,000 solar water heaters until they are paid what they claim are overdue storage costs. This unexpected cost represents about one-third of the total programme's budget of about R1bn. The national solar water heater programme, launched in 2009, aimed to install 1-million solar geysers by 2014, later revised to 5-million geysers by 2030, to reduce electricity demand, lower costs for low-income households, and minimise South Africa’s carbon footprint. However, delays in installations from 2015 to 2024 led to significant storage fees, as the units were only collected from 2020 after agreements with municipalities were finalised. To date only 87,206 solar water heaters have been procured, and only 58,611 of the 1-million targeted for 2014 have been installed, with about 3,687 damaged during transportation. Arbitration is ongoing to resolve the withheld units. A forensic report by KPMG has triggered disciplinary investigations into departmental officials regarding potential misconduct and wasteful expenditure. The programme, though marred by inefficiencies and logistical challenges, is said to have created 1250 jobs and involved over 50 youth- and women-owned installation companies. Moving forward, an installation budget of R61m to R70m annually is allocated for installations between 2024 and 2028, but the future of the programme remains unclear, dependent on available capacity and funding.
6. R500m wasted in eThekwini on “smart” electricity meters that don't work properly.
A startling News24 news article has revealed that the eThekwini (Durban) Metropolitan Municipality in South Africa awarded two contracts totalling R500m to Africa Utility Solutions (AUS) for smart electricity meters that did not work. These meters were meant to remotely record and transmit data to the city’s billing system. However, internal audits found numerous irregularities, including AUS’s failure to meet technical specifications and issues with tax and other compliance submissions. Despite being flagged by the bid adjudication committee, the contracts proceeded. A pilot project conducted in 2022 revealed that AUS’s meters failed to function properly, unable to connect to the city's billing system, raising concerns of human error and data corruption. Following failed tests, the City Integrity and Investigations Unit (CIIU) launched an investigation into AUS after a whistleblower accused the company of fraud and failing to deliver the contracted meters. AUS’s relationship with municipal officials, including allegations of undue influence in securing the contracts, is also under scrutiny. The internal audit review noted that despite AUS claiming to have supplied tens of thousands of meters, auditors were unable to verify the delivery due to restricted access to key documents. Furthermore, AUS faced accusations that the company had not delivered any meters, prompting further investigations. Amidst these issues, eThekwini’s service delivery remains strained, with infrastructure failures and frequent water shortages impacting residents. In response, the municipality was placed under partial administration in June 2023, with senior officials tasked with addressing the city’s governance challenges. Despite the controversy, AUS insists their meters are functional and continue to meet contract requirements.
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