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Search resuls for: "Kgosientsho Ramokgopa"


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REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsJOHANNESBURG, Oct 6 (Reuters) - South Africa's first virtual electricity transfer model is likely to go live by end of next year, a top government official said on Friday, a move that could rapidly ramp up renewable power consumption and reduce the burden on ailing state utility Eskom. The utility in August signed an agreement with Vodacom (VODJ.J), the African telecoms arm of Vodafone (VOD.L), to introduce an electricity transfer model known as virtual wheeling, which will allow a consumer to buy renewable power from any producer anywhere in the country. This is expected to make power from large renewable producers available to smaller users such as standalone buildings, housing societies and factories. "What we're trying to resolve really is to ensure that we protect the South African economy from total collapse," Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said during a conference. Vodacom's South Africa Chief Executive Sitho Mdlalose told Reuters this would help it to run its 15,000 network sites on renewable power.
Persons: Sun, Siphiwe, Ramokgopa, Onicah Rantwane, Sitho Mdlalose, Nqobile, Promit Mukherjee, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: Kendal Power, REUTERS, Rights, Vodacom, Vodafone, Electricity, Eskom, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Kendal, Witbank, Mpumalanga, South Africa, Rights JOHANNESBURG
JOHANNESBURG, Aug 20 (Reuters) - The amount of unpaid dues that South African municipalities owe debt-laden power company Eskom has risen to more than 63.2 billion rand ($3.33 billion) and is increasing exponentially, risking even longer power cuts around the country, the electricity minister said on Sunday. Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said the figure had risen by 4.7 billion rand since the start of this year. Eskom supplies power to 238 municipalities with the top 20 of them accounting for 77% or 48.9 billion rand of the total overdue debt, Ramokgopa said. The government is exploring ways to resolve the municipal debt crisis and is looking at funding from various means to upgrade the distribution infrastructure, Ramokgopa said, without giving any timeline. ($1 = 18.9890 rand)Reporting by Promit Mukherjee; Editing by Susan FentonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Persons: Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, Ramokgopa, Eskom, Promit Mukherjee, Susan Fenton Organizations: Thomson Locations: JOHANNESBURG, South Africa
South Africa nearing end of daily power cuts, minister says
  + stars: | 2023-07-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +2 min
Summary Electricity minister said summer could see no blackoutsCountry's power generation almost meeting demand, he saidWorst scenario of peak winter demand has not materialisedJOHANNESBURG, July 2 (Reuters) - South Africa's electricity minister said on Sunday the country was closer to ending daily power cuts as warmer weather returns towards the end of the year, but declined to give a specific date. South Africa is on course to see its most blackout days in history this year with daily power cuts extending to almost 10 hours a day, affecting businesses and households in an economy already hobbled by high interest rates and inflation. The power cuts, called loadshedding locally, is expected to shave off 2 percentage points from GDP this year, the central bank said last month. The capacity available is plateauing around 29,000 MW, giving enough room to bring the power cuts down to Stage 3, where 3,000 MW are taken off the grid, leading to between two and fours hours of daily power cuts, the minister added. South Africa implements power cuts in stages from one to eight with eight being the highest and translating into over 10 hours of daily power cuts.
Persons: Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, Ramokgopa, Promit Mukherjee, Alison Williams Organizations: Electricity, Thomson Locations: JOHANNESBURG, South Africa
The state of disaster gave the government additional powers to respond to the crisis, including by permitting emergency procurement procedures with fewer bureaucratic delays and less oversight. The newly appointed electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said some crisis measures would remain in place. "The state is withdrawing the national state of disaster in response to OUTA's legal action challenging its rationality," said OUTA, a non-profit organisation that focuses on fighting government corruption and tax abuses. REUTERS/Esa AlexanderOUTA said the disaster regulations would have enabled corruption and that the crisis could be managed using existing laws. President Cyril Ramaphosa invoked disaster regulations on Feb. 9 to fight a paralysing power crisis that has included daily rolling power cuts by Eskom.
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