Page 14 - AfrElec Week 47 2022
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AfrElec TRADING AfrElec
Chariot forges partnership to
trade electricity in South Africa
SOUTH AFRICA CHARIOT Limited (Chariot), an AIM-listed South Africa faces regular power outages
transitional energy developer and operator, has due to insufficient supply. Its fleet of predomi-
entered into a joint venture with three partners nantly coal-fired plants is aged and often breaks
to establish an electricity trading company in down. To combat the crisis, the government has
South Africa. deregulated the energy sector, which includes
It said in a statement that it has 25% in issuing electricity trading licences and facilitat-
Etana Energy (Pty) Limited (Etana), which was ing the build of energy projects of up to 100 MW
recently granted a trading licence by the National generation capacity.
Energy Regulator of South Africa. The Neura Benoit Garrivier, Chariot Transitional Power
Group (49%), H1 Holdings (21%) and Meadows chief executive officer, said Etana will provide
Energy (5%) are the other shareholders. the opportunity to enhance and revolutionise
Etana plans to deliver renewable energy the energy mix in South Africa by supplying
at competitive prices to help address power greener power for commercial and industrial
requirements in South Africa, the continent’s requirements.
most advanced economy and number one “In forming this joint venture, we see a great
energy market. opportunity to expand our footprint of renewa-
The licence opens up access to a range of ble projects in the country whilst also developing
high-volume off-takers, including municipal, another revenue stream as the private electricity
industrial and retail customers. market in South Africa grows,” he said.
Lithium battery thefts
rise in Botswana
BOTSWANA THERE has been a surge in the theft of lithium in possession of 12 lithium-ion batteries worth
batteries in Botswana as demand for alterna- reported ZAR 350,000 suspected to have been
tive power sources for home and industrial stolen in and around Gaborone, Motube said.
use increases across Southern Africa, News24 Meanwhile, in Zimbabwe, copper cable theft
reported on Thursday (November 17). is also on the rise amid a global appetite for the
According to Botswana police in Tlokweng, metal. According to News24, the Zimbabwe
near the country’s border with South Africa, Electricity Supply Authority lost cables worth an
four Zimbabwean men who were in possession estimated ZAR 72mn last year. This year alone,
of 40 batteries worth about ZAR 1.25mn (about 500 cases of theft and vandalism have been
$73,000) were arrested on Tuesday. The batteries reported to the police.
could have been stolen from cell phone towers, The biggest police find yet was when a South
police said. African national and five Zimbabweans tried
“The items are suspected to have been sto- to smuggle 1,700kg of stolen copper cables into
len from different telecommunications towers South Africa, writes the media agency.
belonging to Mascom cellular network service The theft of copper cables is widespread in
provider,” said assistant commissioner Dipheko South Africa, with authorities hard-pressed to
Motube from the Botswana Police Service’s pub- break the syndicates behind the theft. If caught,
lic relations office. however, criminals face harsh punishment.
In a separate incident in Francistown on According to News24, three Zimbabweans were
Monday, police arrested two suspects, a Bot- sentenced to 10 years in jail by the Pretoria Mag-
swana man and a Zimbabwean. They were found istrate’s Court for cable theft in October.
P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 47 23•November•2022
