Page 11 - AfrElec Week 27

AfrElec
NEWS IN BRIEF
AfrElec
“Nigeria has a huge population and this informed the decision by the EU to support its renewable programme. Renewable is
the energy for the future because it is clean, a ordable and provides a conducive habitat for the people,” he said.
Addressing the country’s vast power supply gap, he said, “more than 80 million people
do not have access to the national electricity grid. A situation that a ects peoples standard of living and economic life. Nigeria still has a long way to go in terms of electricity creation, development and consumption. is is why the EU supports energy initiatives in the country.”
e investment will contribute to economic growth, creating jobs through the nancing of several youth-led projects in the country’s renewable energy sector.
Launched in 2011, Nigeria’s Renewable Energy Master Plan aims to increase renewable energy in the country 10% by 2025.
EMISSIONS
Eskom faces $813mn carbon tax bill
South Africa’s Eskom could face an $813mn big carbon tax bill from 2023 a er its current exemption ends.
Eskom., which has been forced to turn to the government for bailouts to meet its obligations, mostly burns coal to generate power and is one of the country’s biggest polluters.
e company will bene t from exemptions in the rst phase of the tax that took e ect from June 1.
However, a second phase that starts in 2023 may mean an annual carbon-tax bill of ZAR11.5bn ($813mn), Gina Downes, chief adviser for environmental economics at the utility, said on July 9.
“ ere’s likely to be a signi cant additional revenue requirement,” Downes said. e utility said earlier that “substantial” costs were anticipated in the second phase of the tax, without giving an estimate.
Eskom, which produces more than 90% of South Africa’s electricity, accounts for about 42% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, Downes said.
As part of e orts to revive Eskom’s nances, South Africa is considering plans
to increase the amount of renewable-energy generation and shut some coal plants early
in exchange for getting better terms on the utility’s debt, a person familiar with the matter said last month.
T R A D I N G
Zimbabwe confident of new
imports from Mozambique,
South Africa
Mozambique is ready to assist Zimbabwe with increased supplies of electricity from Cahora Bassa, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa said.
Mnangagwa said they had agreed that Mozambique will supply more energy to Zimbabwe and the two countries’ Ministers of Energy will soon meet to tie up the loose ends of the deal.
“My minister will go to Mozambique. I discussed with the President of Mozambique, Nyusi (my brother) and they are ready for
us to discuss the issue so that they can also increase the supply of energy from Cahora Bassa to Zimbabwe on terms which are comfortable to us,” he said.
is comes a er South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, following bilateral discussions with President Mnangagwa here on Sunday, sealed a deal for Eskom to supply Zimbabwe with electricity.
Recently, the Zimbabwean government paid $10mn to Eskom to reduce the debt with the South African power utility.
e power de cits gripping Zimbabwe have been necessitated by failure to raise foreign currency to pay Eskom and Mozambique’s hydroelectric power plant Cahora Bassa, which also exports electricity to Zimbabwe.
e country’s power generating infrastructure is aged and frequently breaks down, while water levels at Kariba have dropped sharply.
Once the two deals come to fruition, electricity shortages are expected to ease. President Mnangagwa also held fruitful discussions with Gambian President Adama Barrow that will see Zimbabwe supplying wildlife to the East African country.
Week 27 10•July•2019
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