Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., South Africa’s state power utility, will cut 2,000 megawatts of power from 7 a.m. Wednesday until 4 p.m., scrapping a plan to suspend electricity rationing during daytime because of delays in returning some of its generating units to service.
The utility will thereafter cut 3,000 megawatts from the grid until midnight, it said in a Tweet.
Thieves Threaten World Bank’s Coal Rail Project (June 28, 6 a.m.)
A World Bank Group-funded effort to increase train access to a power plant in South Africa’s coal-rich region has started to significantly backslide as criminals target the country’s rail system.
Development of a 68-kilometer route between Ermelo, east of Johannesburg, and Eskom’s Majuba power station started over a decade ago to replace the continuous flow of trucks delivering coal to the plant. Once completed, the rail line will be cheaper, faster and more environmentally friendly, according to the World Bank.
Read More: Thieves Threaten World Bank’s South African Coal Rail
South Africa Forms Hydrogen Pact With Germany (June 27, 8:41 p.m.)
South Africa and Germany signed an agreement to create a task force that will help Africa’s most industrialized nation create projects that are able to meet international demand for green hydrogen.
An agreement signed by Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa and Robert Habeck, German vice chancellor and minister of economic affairs and climate action, will assist to drive the commercial viability of green hydrogen projects and infrastructure in both nations, the Ministry of Electricity said in a statement.
Read More: South Africa Forms Hydrogen Pact With Germany to Grow Market
Outages Cost Mall Operator $3 Million in Five Months (June 27, 5:47 p.m.)
South Africa’s power cuts cost listed retail property owner Hyprop Investments Ltd. 55.3 million rand ($3 million) in the five months through May.
The owner of shopping malls in sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern Europe managed to recover 86% of that cost, according to a statement on Tuesday. All its centers in South Africa, which includes Somerset Mall near Cape Town and Rosebank Mall in Johannesburg, continue to trade during so-called loadshedding.
Hyprop’s portfolio has full backup capacity with 81 generators, other than the Canal Walk center in Cape Town, where six prime rate generators are being commissioned, it said.
--With assistance from Paul Burkhardt.
