Latest news with #G20EnergyTransitionsWorkingGroup
Business Mayor
02-05-2025
- Business
- Business Mayor
Nuclear tech key to ensure countries achieve energy security: S African Minister at G20 meet
Johannesburg, May 1 (PTI): The use of nuclear technology in a country's energy mix is key to its energy security, South African Minister for Electricity and Energy Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said at the second G20 Energy Transitions Working Group meeting in Cape Town. The meeting on Wednesday is part of a number of events ahead of the G20 Summit of global leaders later this year to be hosted by South Africa, which holds the G20 Presidency for 2025. 'In the wake of the world aiming to reach net zero by 2050, there has been a return to realism where it is globally accepted that nuclear technology has a huge role to play in the energy mix as a key source to ensure countries achieve their energy security, energy sovereignty, and energy justice in the transition,' Ramokgopa said. The minister said South Africa was giving consideration to reviving its mothballed nuclear energy programme. 'The expansion of the nuclear programme gives South Africa energy security and sovereignty that enables the country to move its economy into a digital era, engage in new research frontiers and take its rightful place amongst leading nations,' he said. Ramokgopa said he is consulting with global experts for advice on reviving South Africa's nuclear build programme amid the global trend for more countries to include nuclear power in their energy mix as they transition to green energy sources. Information gathered would be presented to the South African government. Ramokgopa said the need for nuclear in South Africa is not an issue, but funding it is. 'There has not been an issue around the need for nuclear, issue is affordability and financial muscle to pay for the upfront capital cost. So, [these experts] will help me answer that question on pace and scale,' he said, as he thanked the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for the assistance that they had provided in identifying the global experts. Ramokgopa admitted that the estimated R60 billion (USD 3.5 billion) required for the revival of nuclear energy in South Africa was unlikely to come from government funds. He said there was interest though from entities in the US and China to assist in this regard. IAEA said on its website that this was the second year that it was participating in G20 discussions on nuclear energy after first doing so when Brazil had the presidency in 2024. 'The IAEA engagement this year will include publications tailored to inform the group on topics such as the prospects for nuclear power in Africa and repurposing coal-fired plants with nuclear power such as small modular reactors, as well as participation in the G20 Ministerial Meeting on Energy, set for 23-26 September,' the international agency said. 'At a time when energy access and security of supply are issues of global concern, the role of nuclear energy in low carbon, resilient and affordable energy systems remains indispensable,' IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said. 'Continuing the work that the IAEA began under the presidency of Brazil, we are now looking forward to working with South Africa,' he added. South Africa has consistently noted that it will champion the cause of the African continent during this year as the first African country to assume the G20 presidency. 'South Africa is pursuing an Africa-wide approach emphasising energy security, a just and inclusive clean energy transition and regional energy cooperation. While South Africa remains the only country on the continent to have nuclear power and aims to expand its programme, several African countries have expressed interest in or are embarking on its introduction,' IAEA said. 'Egypt is building four large reactors, and other countries such as Ghana and Kenya are working with the IAEA to establish the necessary infrastructure for a nuclear power programme,' it added. PTI FH GRS GRS GRS (This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)
The Citizen
02-05-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
Winter is coming: Has Eskom got a plan to avoid load shedding?
In January, Eskom shattered its record of 300 days of no load shedding. With winter arriving in South Africa in June, many will be wondering if Eskom is prepared to cope with the cold, harsh weather that puts additional pressure on the electricity grid, leading to load shedding. Winter is expected to arrive on 21 June and make its exit around 22 September. Winter outlook As the country prepares for colder weather, Eskom said it will provide a 'State of the System and Winter Outlook' on Monday. Earlier this week, Minister of Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, predicted a load-shedding-free winter for this year. The minister forecast the country's power plants to perform the same as last year, as he saw no reason for their performance to decrease, he said on the sidelines of the second G20 Energy Transitions Working Group in Cape Town on Wednesday. ALSO READ: We just came out of emergency load shedding, but Eskom has high hopes for winter Ramokgopa expressed confidence that generation levels would match or exceed those of winter 2024, with no expected setbacks. Load shedding In January, Eskom shattered its record of 300 days of no load shedding when it imposed stage 3 power cuts after more than 10 months of uninterrupted electricity supply. Since January, there has been infrequent load shedding, and the country hit stage 6 power cuts in February. Ramokgopa at the time said the country had been hit by a 'perfect storm'. Stage 6 Eskom CEO Dan Marokane also dismissed claims that the utility implemented stage 6 load shedding because it failed to get the requested electricity tariff hike from the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa). In August, the parastatal submitted an application to Nersa for a proposed 36.15% hike during its 2026 financial year, 11.81% in 2027 and 9.10% in 2028. However, in January, Nersa only approved a 12.7% electricity tariff increase for Eskom. Marokane said stage 6 load shedding has nothing to do with the parastatal's failure to receive its desired electricity tariff hike. ALSO READ: Eskom gets boost as Kusile's final unit adds 800MW to grid
Time of India
02-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Nuclear tech key to ensure countries achieve energy security: S African Minister at G20 meet
Johannesburg: The use of nuclear technology in a country's energy mix is key to its energy security , South African Minister for Electricity and Energy Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said at the second G20 Energy Transitions Working Group meeting in Cape Town. The meeting on Wednesday is part of a number of events ahead of the G20 Summit of global leaders later this year to be hosted by South Africa, which holds the G20 Presidency for 2025. "In the wake of the world aiming to reach net zero by 2050, there has been a return to realism where it is globally accepted that nuclear technology has a huge role to play in the energy mix as a key source to ensure countries achieve their energy security, energy sovereignty, and energy justice in the transition," Ramokgopa said. The minister said South Africa was giving consideration to reviving its mothballed nuclear energy programme. "The expansion of the nuclear programme gives South Africa energy security and sovereignty that enables the country to move its economy into a digital era, engage in new research frontiers and take its rightful place amongst leading nations," he said. Ramokgopa said he is consulting with global experts for advice on reviving South Africa's nuclear build programme amid the global trend for more countries to include nuclear power in their energy mix as they transition to green energy sources. Information gathered would be presented to the South African government. Ramokgopa said the need for nuclear in South Africa is not an issue, but funding it is. "There has not been an issue around the need for nuclear, issue is affordability and financial muscle to pay for the upfront capital cost. So, [these experts] will help me answer that question on pace and scale," he said, as he thanked the International Atomic Energy Agency ( IAEA ) for the assistance that they had provided in identifying the global experts. Ramokgopa admitted that the estimated R60 billion (USD 3.5 billion) required for the revival of nuclear energy in South Africa was unlikely to come from government funds. He said there was interest though from entities in the US and China to assist in this regard. IAEA said on its website that this was the second year that it was participating in G20 discussions on nuclear energy after first doing so when Brazil had the presidency in 2024. "The IAEA engagement this year will include publications tailored to inform the group on topics such as the prospects for nuclear power in Africa and repurposing coal-fired plants with nuclear power such as small modular reactors, as well as participation in the G20 Ministerial Meeting on Energy, set for 23-26 September," the international agency said. "At a time when energy access and security of supply are issues of global concern, the role of nuclear energy in low carbon, resilient and affordable energy systems remains indispensable," IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said. "Continuing the work that the IAEA began under the presidency of Brazil, we are now looking forward to working with South Africa," he added. South Africa has consistently noted that it will champion the cause of the African continent during this year as the first African country to assume the G20 presidency. "South Africa is pursuing an Africa-wide approach emphasising energy security, a just and inclusive clean energy transition and regional energy cooperation. While South Africa remains the only country on the continent to have nuclear power and aims to expand its programme, several African countries have expressed interest in or are embarking on its introduction," IAEA said. "Egypt is building four large reactors, and other countries such as Ghana and Kenya are working with the IAEA to establish the necessary infrastructure for a nuclear power programme," it added.
The South African
01-05-2025
- Business
- The South African
Will there be load shedding this winter? Energy Minister gives his verdict…
On Wednesday, Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said South Africans could be in for a winter without load-shedding. This is thanks to improved generation capacity and the return of key power units. Speaking at the G20 Energy Transitions Working Group meeting in Cape Town, Ramokgopa expressed cautious optimism about a blackout-free winter. Ramokgopa emphasised that power plant performance is expected to match — if not exceed — last year's levels. He noted that there is 'no reason' for performance to decline, despite some ongoing challenges. Without giving too much away, he said a more detailed winter outlook will be presented on 5 May. 'When we went into winter last year, we didn't have Kusile Unit 6, so we didn't have that 800MW,' Ramokgopa told EWN . 'The second thing is that we didn't have Medupi 4. We will have Medupi 4 by the end of May, which has been out for about four years, so that's another 800MW.' 'We are also going to have the benefits of both Koeberg units.' To that end, Koeberg unit number 1 is expected to come back online in July. Altogether, the country is projected to have about 2 500MW more electricity during peak winter demand than it did last year. South Africans have a right to be skeptical however, after Eskom announced Stage 2 load shedding last Thursday. This marked the first time in over 30 days that the power utility enforced rolling blackouts. In a statement, Eskom attributed the load shedding to the loss of generation units and higher-than-usual demand. By Friday morning, the power utility declared that there had been a recovery of generation units, and suspended load shedding. Nonetheless, with winter looming, it didn't inspire confidence about energy availibility over the coming months. While acknowledging that the Energy Availability Factor (EAF) remained below ideal levels in April, Ramokgopa attributed the recent issues to isolated post-maintenance failures. 'That was post-outage failure,' the Minister added. 'When you take the unit out on planned maintenance, when it comes back, it can still present a significant number of challenges. So that's something the team is addressing.' 'I really don't foresee that we are going to perform below what we did last year.' Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
Eyewitness News
01-05-2025
- Business
- Eyewitness News
Ramokgopa predicts a load shedding free winter
CAPE TOWN - Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa is predicting a load shedding free winter. He expects the country's power plants to perform at the same capacity they did last winter, saying there's no reason for performance to regress. READ: Nuclear energy to play key role in lessening SA's carbon footprint: Ramokgopa Speaking on the sidelines of the G20 Energy Transitions Working Group meeting in Cape Town on Wednesday, Ramokgopa did not want to give too much away, saying he plans to provide a detailed winter outlook next week. "When we went into winter last year, we didn't have Kusile Unit 6, so we didn't have that 800 MW. The second one is that we didn't have Medupi 4. We will have Medupi 4 by the end of May, which has been out for about four years, so it's another 800mw. And then we are going to have the benefits of both Koeberg units. We are anticipating that Koeberg Unit Number 1 is going to come back around in July or so." Ramokgopa says that at the winter peak, the country will have an additional 2500mw of electricity it didn't have last winter. While the energy availability factor was not at optimal levels last month [April], Ramokgopa says the problems have been isolated. "One of the reasons we found is post-outage failure, so you take the unit out on planned maintenance, when it comes back, it still has a significant number of challenges. So that's something the team led by the executive Mr Bheki Nxumalo is addressing. So I really don't foresee that we are going to perform below what we did last year."
