Page 13 - AfrElec Week 10 2023

AfrElec NEWS IN BRIEF AfrElec

South Africa electricity Kenya’s electricity allowed to appoint two cabinet ministers who
are not MPs to his cabinet. He needs to make
shortage at record level generator to install solar space to appoint a minister who is not part
of the National Assembly to his executive to
South Africa’s state-owned power utility panels on hydropower become the minister of electricity -- which is
Eskom may have quietly reduced power why a cabinet reshuffle has been delayed.
supply to an unprecedented level on Tuesday dams
(February 21), removing 7,045MW from the
grid, Bloomberg reports. Kenya’s majority state-owned power generator Zimbabwe’s top tea
The steep reduction was announced by KenGen is conducting a feasibility study to
Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha instal solar panels on hydropower dams to producer Tanganda to save
on his Twitter handle the previous night increase electricity production and to mitigate
but not on the utility’s official schedule. He the impact of dropping of water levels due to $700k monthly from green
posted again on Wednesday night that total drought, Business Daily reports.
demand was 30,993MW but 7,092MW was Much of the East Africa region is entering energy switch
unavailable. its sixth failed rainy season. KenGen acting
According to Bloomberg, the Tuesday CEO Abraham Serem said when water levels Zimbabwean agro-industrial giant Tanganda
power cut was the deepest on record but was drop, the country must increase the uptake of Tea Company has invested $8mn into solar
beaten by the Wednesday level by 47MW. thermally generated power, which is far more projects that it projects will save about
The normal practice was to remove around expensive. $700,000 monthly on electricity tariffs, New
6,000MW from the grid to prevent its “We have launched studies on coming up Zimbabwe reports.
collapse. with solar panels on our hydro-dams, and this “To date, the company has installed a 1.8
Eskom relies on an old, coal-dominated will be a win-win situation in terms of supply MW solar plant at Ratelshoek Estate, a 1.4
fleet of production facilities that frequently of renewable energy,” he is quoted as saying. MW solar plant at Jersey Estate and a 1.2 MW
break down. As a result, Africa’s most- Serem noted that Kenya relies heavily on solar plant at Tingamira Estate,” Tanganda
industrialised economy experiences long geothermal, wind and solar power by day and chief executive Timothy Fennell is quoted as
periods of no electricity, up to 10 hours daily uses hydropower at night. telling a stakeholders’ meeting this week.
sometimes. “We have enough water in our dams to Tanganda plans to roll out one solar plant
Given the enormity of the challenge, last us until the next rains, but we are limiting every year over the next three years at an
President Cyril Ramaphosa recently declared power generation from the hydro-plants due anticipated cost of $4mn, he said.
the power shortage a “state of disaster”. to the prevailing weather conditions,” he said. Many Zimbabwean entities have begun
“Currently, thermal power accounts for 9% of investing into solar power in recent months
the energy produced in the country, and we due to offset electricity blackouts affecting the
Zimbabwe’s Power are committed to hitting 100% green energy grid sometimes lasting more than 14 hours,
according to New Zimbabwe.
by 2030.”
Ventures installs 9,000 green in the Southern African nation are
Among the big corporates to have gone
solar panels in first phase Former Pretoria mayor mining concern RioZim, telecoms giant
Econet Zimbabwe, and Lithium miner
of 100MW project tipped to become South Caledonia.
Zimbabwe-listed Tanganda is the country’s
Power Ventures, a Zimbabwean independent Africa’s first minister of biggest producer, packer and distributor of
power producer, has installed 9,000 solar tea, and also produces coffee, macadamia
panels under the first phase of a 100-megawatt electricity nuts, avocadoes and potatoes
(MW) project near Victoria Falls, to the west
of the country. Former Pretoria mayor Kgosientso
The panels installed so far will be able to Ramokgopa, now head of investment and Nigeria’s President
generate 5MW from March infrastructure at the Presidency of South
The project is being implemented in four Africa, is heavily tipped to become the Buhari inaugurates 50MW
phases of 25MW each. Phase one is set to cost county’s first minister of electricity, News24
$31mn and is expected to be completed before reports. emergency gas-fired plant
year’s end. South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa
Power Ventures project manager Sam in mid-February pledged to create a ministry in Borno State
Mabvira said the main transformer is of electricity after declaring a ‘state of disaster’
expected anytime from now to pave way for due to an energy shortage plaguing the Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has
the final connection. country for 16 years. inaugurated a 50MW emergency gas-fired
“The first 5MW is almost complete and State-run utility Eskom has been power plant in Maiduguri, the capital of
should connect to the grid in the next three compelled to implement power cuts for some Borno state, in the country’s northeast.
months. We are 90% complete for the initial 120 consecutive days because of plant outages The plant is expected to bring temporary
5MW and forex permitting, we plan to due to breakdowns at its ageing and poorly relief to the city, which has been without
complete the 25MW in the fourth quarter maintained coal-fired power plants. power since January 2021 when militants blew
of 2023,” he is quoted by The Chronicle as Ramokgopa -- or whoever becomes up transmission lines.
saying. minister of electricity -- will be tasked with Borno, situated in the northeast of Nigeria,
Zimbabwe is promoting clean energy and beefing up capacity and bringing an end to the has been a target of Islamist insurgents for
hopes to generate 2,000MW by 2030. long outages, known locally as load shedding. more than a decade. Jihadists frequently
News24 notes that by law, Ramaphosa is attack power lines and other forms of civilian

Week 10 08•March•2023 www. NEWSBASE .com P13