Page 13 - AfrOil Week 50 2022

AfrOil POLICY AfrOil

According to Harmse, the board, led by Kekana, project appears not to have included any indi-
also exercised “poor management and reck- viduals skilled in the construction of LPG ter-
less borrowing.” As a result, Sunrise Energy minals and storage facilities.
has fallen into a position where its liabilities This resulted in excessive expenditure and
well exceed its assets, as appears from the lat- the weather-prone infrastructure, which causes
est audited annual financial statements for the periodic supply issues. Further, there are reports
period ending December 2020. the facility is over-engineered and not fit for
Harmse further confirms that the total purpose.
capital cost of the terminal was approximately The Saldanha Bay terminal is currently the
ZAR1.1bn, which was funded via the share- only infrastructure available for LPG imports
holder loans, with the balance being funded by into the Western Cape. Harmse claims that
way of senior debt. the Western Cape and surrounding areas may
However, previous research by IOL indi- potentially run out of gas as a result of weak pro-
cated that a facility of similar size to the Sunrise ject development and reckless management at
Energy facility of 5,500 metric tonnes should Sunrise Energy.
have cost around ZAR400mn to construct. It should be noted that the PIC and IDC are
Sunrise Energy’s total liabilities as of Octo- organs of the state and are able to fund projects
ber 2022 are recorded as being approximately as a result of investing cash received from pen-
ZAR1.4bn, with the total senior debt for the IDC sion funds such as the Government Employees
and PIC at about ZAR927mn. The business, Pension Fund and the Unemployment Insur-
therefore, is unable to generate any returns, or ance Fund, among others.
service the excessive debt obligations that have The current situation at Sunrise Energy now
resulted in this application, Harmse says. places the large investments these funds have
Additionally, the development phase of the made at risk, IOL reports. ™

Kenya to fast-track universal clean

cooking fuel use to cut CO2 emissions

KENYA KENYA’S government is developing a strategy The government is receiving technical
aimed at increasing the use of modern clean assistance from Climate Compatible Growth
cooking solutions in a bid to mitigate the global (CCG), UK Partnering for Accelerated Climate
climate crisis and reduce respiratory illnesses, Transitions, Modern Energy Cooking Services,
Capital FM reports. GIZ-Energising Development (Endev) and the
Under the National Clean Cooking Strategy, French development agency (AFD).
the Energy and Petroleum Ministry has been Recent studies show that the most advanced
tasked with ensuring that Kenya achieves its tar- (efficient and low-emission) cookstoves and
get of universal access to clean energy by 2028. fuels can reduce black carbon emissions by 50%-
Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchi revealed 90%, Capital FM writes, while well-managed
the strategy at the third annual Clean Cooking woodlots also produce sustainable wood fuel,
Week forum earlier in December. Clean cook- reducing CO2 emissions. ™
ing methods include using climate-friendly, effi-
cient biomass stoves, as well as switching from
solid biomass and kerosene to cleaner, environ-
mentally friendly options such as biogas, bioeth-
anol, LPG, solar PV and electric cooking.
Chirchi noted that 59% of Kenyans use tra-
ditional fireplaces for cooking while only 30%
of households have access to clean cooking
solutions, and nearly 23,000 deaths annually are
attributed to household air pollution.
“Overreliance on open fires and traditional
cookstoves and fuels is one of the most pressing
health and environmental problem that calls for
urgent action,” he was quoted as saying. “It is the
reason why we have identified clean cooking as
a national development priority by setting the
target to achieve universal access to modern
cooking energy services by 2028.” LPG stoves are a clean cooking option available in Kenya (Photo: Envirofit)

Week 50 15•December•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P13