south africa

The US government has confirmed which countries shall be exempted from the newly-announced 30% import tariffs on solar cells and modules.

A five-point Plan has been devised by The South African Photovoltaics Industry Association (SAPIA) to support development starting, with a target of building 1.5GW of PV annually.

Whilst African solar is still firmly an emerging market, investors have confirmed that issues remain with development finance, insofar as it is holding back the market from truly taking off. Whilst development finance institutions (DFIs) are a crucial part of allowing the market to find its feet, the continent’s economic infrastructure needs to move beyond the realm of development finance for commercial financiers to be enticed.

Breaking up Eskom’s monopoly in South Africa’s power market is not the answer to signing the outstanding PPAs under the country’s renewable energy procurement programme, a representative from the Department of Energy (DOE) has said.

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) has launched an investigation into Eskom’s ongoing refusal to sign outstanding PPA contracts under the country’s renewable energy procurement programme (REIPPPP).

South African utility has failed to meet the deadline imposed by the country’s previous minister of energy for the financial close of outstanding PPAs under the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP).

French tracker specialist Exosun has partnered with Lesedi Nuclear Services, a leading South African power company to offer the most localised tracking system in the region.

UK-based Foresight Solar Fund has set its sights on a new pipeline of solar assets with a capacity of 250MW and announced a new share issuing and placing programme to fund it.

The impasse between South African utility Eskom and the renewable energy IPPs “has been broken”, according to energy minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson.

South African utility Eskom is defying the injunction of president Jacob Zuma by attempting to negotiate tariffs with preferred bidders as opposed to signing existing PPAs outright, according to the South African Renewable Energy Council (SAREC).