Sizable parts of East London were powerless yesterday as Eskom embarked on another bout of nationwide load-shedding.
Buffalo City Metro (BCM) spokesman Keith Ngesi said Sunnyridge, Willow Park, Leaches Bay, Greenfields, Orange Grove, upper Amalinda, Braelyn, Duncan Village, Pefferville, Cambridge, Cambridge West, Highgate and part of Vincent were in the dark between 2pm and 4pm yesterday.
An Eskom press release stated that due to high electricity demand and the unavailability of some of their generating units, the power utility implemented stage 1 of nationwide load-shedding yesterday, which was to last until 10pm last night.
Neither Eskom nor BCM were able to furnish the Saturday Dispatch with schedules for the weekend or confirm if there will be load-shedding today and tomorrow.
The Department of Energy announced on Wednesday two new‚ successful bidders to provide concentrated solar power capacity as part of the third round of bids by independent power producers of renewable energy.
In addition to the two new bidders – Kathu Solar Park and Redstone Solar Thermal Power‚ which will both build 100MW capacity – there are five other concentrated solar power projects‚ including one belonging to Eskom‚ that have been commissioned.
The bidding by independent power producers is done competitively. Redstone said it had provided the lowest tariff bid to date from any concentrated solar power project in the country.
It did not disclose the cost at which it will supply power‚ but renewable energy remains substantially more expensive than coal-fired energy in South Africa.
However‚ like several other renewable projects that formed part of the third-round window‚ the Redstone project has not yet reached financial close.
It has been delayed by Eskom‚ which has not been able to easily connect all successful bidders to the grid.
Previous rounds of the renewable energy independent power producer procurement process have been a success‚ with 21 renewable projects‚ which will provide 1076MW‚ connected to the grid.
But the third round has run into problems with a delay in undertakings by Eskom to provide grid connection and a sudden rise in prices for the service.
This has had a knock-on effect on the finalising of the contracting necessary to achieving financial close.
Blackouts make a return
Sizable parts of East London were powerless yesterday as Eskom embarked on another bout of nationwide load-shedding.
Buffalo City Metro (BCM) spokesman Keith Ngesi said Sunnyridge, Willow Park, Leaches Bay, Greenfields, Orange Grove, upper Amalinda, Braelyn, Duncan Village, Pefferville, Cambridge, Cambridge West, Highgate and part of Vincent were in the dark between 2pm and 4pm yesterday.
An Eskom press release stated that due to high electricity demand and the unavailability of some of their generating units, the power utility implemented stage 1 of nationwide load-shedding yesterday, which was to last until 10pm last night.
Neither Eskom nor BCM were able to furnish the Saturday Dispatch with schedules for the weekend or confirm if there will be load-shedding today and tomorrow.
The Department of Energy announced on Wednesday two new‚ successful bidders to provide concentrated solar power capacity as part of the third round of bids by independent power producers of renewable energy.
In addition to the two new bidders – Kathu Solar Park and Redstone Solar Thermal Power‚ which will both build 100MW capacity – there are five other concentrated solar power projects‚ including one belonging to Eskom‚ that have been commissioned.
The bidding by independent power producers is done competitively. Redstone said it had provided the lowest tariff bid to date from any concentrated solar power project in the country.
It did not disclose the cost at which it will supply power‚ but renewable energy remains substantially more expensive than coal-fired energy in South Africa.
However‚ like several other renewable projects that formed part of the third-round window‚ the Redstone project has not yet reached financial close.
It has been delayed by Eskom‚ which has not been able to easily connect all successful bidders to the grid.
Previous rounds of the renewable energy independent power producer procurement process have been a success‚ with 21 renewable projects‚ which will provide 1076MW‚ connected to the grid.
But the third round has run into problems with a delay in undertakings by Eskom to provide grid connection and a sudden rise in prices for the service.
This has had a knock-on effect on the finalising of the contracting necessary to achieving financial close.
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