South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will address the nation in the coming week about steps the government will take to alleviate the nation\u2019s energy crisis, a governing party official said.<\/p>\n
State officials are discussing an emergency package of measures and the president may make an announcement before the cabinet begins a strategy meeting on 1 February,\u00a0 ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula told reporters Friday in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a crisis, and we need emergency interventions,\u201d Mbalula said of the rolling blackouts being implemented by state power utility Eskom that are resulting in electricity being cut for 10 hours or more a day. \u201cAn emergency package will be announced by the government.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eskom cut 4,000 megawatts from the grid from 05h00 on Friday, instead of the 5,000 megawatts it planned to remove, until further notice, the power utility said.<\/p>\n
The South African Reserve Bank slashed its forecast for gross domestic product growth this year to 0.3% from 1.1% because of the power cuts. It forecasts rolling blackouts, known locally as load-shedding, may shave two percentage points off output growth during 2023.<\/p>\n
Eskom has issued a second tender for land leases that could see the building of as much as 500 megawatts of generation capacity, it said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The request for proposals, which will close on 27 February, is part of a program to encourage private producers to develop projects that will contribute to electricity supply. The four parcels of land in the latest phase are in Mpumalanga province.<\/p>\n
The initial process concluded lease agreements with five independent producers for the development of an estimated 1,800 megawatts.<\/p>\n
South Africa’s biggest cities move to mitigate load shedding<\/strong><\/p>\n Cape Town, South Africa\u2019s second-biggest city, plans to make its biggest attempt yet to reduce its reliance on the ailing national power utility by holding a tender next month for the provision of as much as 1,000 megawatts of power to the municipality.<\/p>\n The tender will seek so-called dispatchable power, which can be supplied whenever it is needed from anywhere in the country. The move comes as the country endures its worst-ever energy crisis, with Eskom struggling to meet demand and imposing record blackouts.<\/p>\n Cape Town\u2019s plans follow legislation passed in 2020 that allows municipalities to buy electricity from providers other than Eskom.<\/p>\n The City of Johannesburg, meanwhile, is considering establishing an infrastructure fund to finance a R400 million plan to implement measures aimed at mitigating power outages.<\/p>\n The money would be used to fund the recommissioning of emergency power plants, the implementation of a system to regulate high-energy use equipment such as geysers and swimming pool motors, and the implementation of a smart-meter system to limit the amount of electricity distributed to residents\u2019 homes.<\/p>\n The city plans to approach development-finance institutions, private companies and the government to finance the project.<\/p>\n Industries impacted<\/strong><\/p>\n South Africa\u2019s worst-ever power blackouts that curbed platinum and palladium output in 2022 continue to pose a threat to production, according to Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd.<\/p>\n \u201cIf things don\u2019t get better soon, then we are likely to have a worse period this year than last,\u201d the company\u2019s spokesman Johan Theron said in an interview.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it gets worse, it will get to a point when you have certain days where we will stop sending people underground.\u201d<\/p>\n South Africa mines roughly 70% of the world\u2019s platinum and about 40% of all palladium, according to Metals Focus Ltd. Both are mainly used in autocatalysts that cut auto emissions.<\/p>\n
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