Page 12 - AfrElec Week 44

AfrElec
NEWS IN BRIEF
AfrElec
on this project, since it had made the best proposal to the Egyptian authorities.
For example, a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) was signed by Rajit Nanda, Chief Investment Officer of Acwa Power and Sabah Mashaly, President of the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC), the company that provides electricity utilities in Egypt. The latter will buy electricity per kWh at $0.02752.
“This is the lowest contracted solar energy tariff to date in North Africa. It reflects
not only the continuous improvement of technology and the entrepreneurial spirit of the developer Acwa Power, but also Egypt’s attractiveness as an investment destination. The country’s business environment makes
it possible to finance, build and operate this type of facility efficiently (solar power plants, editor’s note),” says Mohamed Shaker, Egypt’s Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy.
Several other PPIs were competing
for this concession. One example is EDF Renouvelables, a subsidiary of the giant Electricité de France (EDF), which has decided to compete alongside the Egyptian company El Sewedy Electric and the Japanese Marubeni Corporation. The British investment fund Actis and the Spanish company Eficiencia Energética de Galicia (Energal) have also formed a consortium to apply for the tender for the Kom Ombo solar photovoltaic project.
Support for this project comes from the French Development Agency (AFD) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
STORAGE
Eskom invests in battery storage
Eskom is installing a flagship 360MW battery energy storage system at 90 sites in the Western Cape, Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal.
This 360MW/1440MWh flagship battery energy storage systems (BESS) project was first announced by Eskom in October 2018.
Eskom said at the time that the distributed battery storage infrastructure would be installed in containers at its sub-stations, including sub-stations located at renewable energy plants.
The battery storage system will allow increased energy storage capacity from future wind and solar-powered projects.
Eskom said the battery storage system will assist in its plan to increase solar and wind power in its energy mix from the current 7.2%
(installed) to 25.6% in 2030 – a 350% increase. The battery system will also be used to
assist peak shaving, frequency support, and ancillary services in the distribution network.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Institutional investors reject Sasol’s climate plan
Six major South African institutional investors have said that Sasol’s climate change plan
is not comprehensive enough and that the company’s plans do not align with the Paris climate agreements.
Speaking on behalf of the institutional investors that co-filed the climate risk resolutions, Jon Duncan, head of Responsible Investment at Old Mutual Investment Group, said that while the group acknowledges Sasol’s commitments to reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the commitments should go further.
“Specifically, our concern is that Sasol
has not made clear whether the types of disclosures that will be made in the November 2020 roadmap will be aligned to the Paris Climate Agreement, nor how they will be linked to short and long-term executive remuneration.
“Our view is that a vote on these issues would have allowed Sasol to test shareholder appetite for such disclosures, and if passed, would have provided clarity on parameters for future climate disclosures,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.
The six — Old Mutual, Sanlam, Abax Investments, Coronation, AEON Investment Management and Mergence Investment Managers — co-filed a shareholder resolution for the upcoming Sasol annual general meeting that will be held on November
27, “seeking greater transparency from the company on how its long-term greenhouse gas emission reduction strategy and executive rewards align with the Paris Climate Agreement.”
The resolution was submitted in October by the six investors to the Sasol board for tabling during the AGM, but was however rejected by the board which said the matters raised by the group “have been addressed and there is no longer any necessity to consider the legality of those resolutions for the upcoming AGM”.
Tracey Davies of shareholder activism group, Just Share, said that the investor group’s approach to engaging with Sasol represents
a fresh approach compared to the traditional approach between investors and companies engaging only “behind closed doors.”
“This collaboration also marks the arrival of a new era of active ownership and responsible investment, and it is very encouraging to see the SA investor community demonstrate this kind of leadership,” she said.
Sasol last week issued its climate report where it commits to “reduce by 2030 the absolute greenhouse (GHG) emissions from [their] South African operations by at least 10%, off [their] 2017 baseline”.
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Week 44 06•November•2019