@engineeringnews_unofficial We have an aluminium smelter & a titanium one with long-term contracts to buy power from #Eskom far below market cost, i.e. subsidised by us all. The aluminium one *imports* its ore!

State Capture Gordhan Lauded for Fighting Corruption

State Capture Gordhan Lauded for Fighting Corruption In a recent turn of events, South African political parties, with the notable exception of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), have come together in lauding Minister Pravin Gordhan for his resolute stance against state capture. This comes at a t... State Capture Gordhan Lauded for Fighting Corruption #Politics#Corruption #EFF #Eskom #Politics #PravinGordhan #SAA…

https://esperecamino.wordpress.com/2026/01/09/state-capture-gordhan-lauded-for-fighting-corruption/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

Cheap Solar Is Transforming Lives and Economies Across Africa

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/30/climate/solar-south-africa-china.html

Grid delays slow renewables uptake https://www.semafor.com/article/12/29/2025/grid-delays-slow-renewables-uptake #SouthAfrica's grid, except for the nuclear station in the south-west, was built to serve coal-burning in the north-east. Best locations for renewables are mostly in the centre of the country. So now #Eskom is being unbundled & the transmission role partly privatised.

@engineeringnews_unofficial Neither Mozambique nor South Africa mines bauxite (aluminium ore), but both ended up smelting it because Mozambique has an electricity surplus (Cahora Bassa hydro) and #SouthAfrica *had* a surplus 40 years ago when the smelter was built. The difference seems to be that Mozambique prefers to let the smelter shut than sell it electricity at a loss, while S.A. is willing to continue doing so even while its grid is struggling. #Loadshedding #Eskom

This unstoppable juggernaut has entered into a deal with #Eskom to launch V2G in #SouthAfrica as well https://thedriven.io/2025/10/30/byd-agrees-warranty-for-battery-on-wheels-trial-as-4000-join-queue-for-amber-v2g-offer/

The dog returns to its vomit. #Eskom spent many billions on this, starting during apartheid. Now that every Tom, BRICS & Harry is doing mini-nukes, we have to fork out again. No serious benefits will come of it, except for those whose careers are already invested in it. Renewables & grid storage are already sweeping the board. https://techcentral.co.za/south-africa-plans-to-restart-pbmr-nuclear-project-next-year/273239/

#SouthAfrica: "The energy crisis was created by #capitalism, #corruption, and a deliberate project to collapse a public good... The solution is democratic public ownership, worker and community control"

https://saftu.org.za/archives/9085

#democracy #SAFTU #privatisation #Eskom #Ramokgopa #IPP #cartel #JustTransition #exploitation #ClassWar #union #unions

South Africa: state-owned utility Eskom makes first profit in eight years http://newsfeed.facilit8.network/TNPLzn #Eskom #SouthAfrica #ElectricityMarket #Profit #Economy

Today in just-trust-homer: #Eskom persists in heralding new nukes when #Koeberg's availability factor is only 59% https://newsday.co.za/south-africa/5371/south-africas-nuclear-energy-soe-has-been-in-meltdown-for-years/ #StableBaseloadMyFoot

Elephant here is demand-side. R Bay is a small city, but hosts two large smelting operations, aluminium (#Eskom's biggest single-site client) & titanium which at least is locally mined. Importing bauxite to smelt presupposes subsidy, however disguised. Rejection of renewables was on grounds of dispersed/intermittent nature. But grid exists between R.Bay & Mpumalanga coal fields so a huge corridor of solar, wind & storage is feasible. https://groundup.org.za/article/appeal-court-blocks-eskoms-giant-richards-bay-power-plant/

42,000 South Africans died because of air pollution in 2023. It's a negative record in Africa. #SouthAfrica operates several of the world deadliest air pollution facilities - such as coal fired power plants or too high car emissions. podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/d... #AirPollution #Eskom

South Africa chokes in contine...

It is always useful to remember that #SouthAfrica is not the only country dealing with a crisis in the energy sector.

New Zealand is in an eerily similar situation as ZA right now.

Almost a third of NZ households face energy hardship – reform has to go beyond cheaper off-peak power https://share.google/6eDQ6WSsy58sJlhoh

#Eskom

Here's a more nuanced version: instead of simply proposing a new subsidy, let these supplicants provide a comparative cost-benefit analysis against the existing subsidy granted for the last forty years to #Eskom's biggest customer, the aluminium smelting operation in Richard's Bay. https://techcentral.co.za/cut-electricity-prices-for-data-centres/267019/

South Africa: Eskom targets mainly clean energy sources by 2040 http://newsfeed.facilit8.network/TLyWqp #CleanEnergy #Eskom #SouthAfrica #SustainableFuture #RenewableEnergy

"He warned that Eskom could end up accelerating the very trend it is trying to contain. “As these network fees kick in, people will do the math and cut Eskom completely.”

The math has looked good to me for the past 6 months already. Future hikes will make cutting Eskom a no-brainer

Eskom could punish homeowners with rooftop solar even more – BusinessTech https://share.google/hfuZR5YwBeFLzDRxU

#SouthAfrica #Electricity #Eskom #Renewables

@uastronomer The elephant in the room is all the money citizens pay municipalities for electricity, which is not passed on to #Eskom - lack of accountability is the real problem.

Grid storage is a no-brainer but #Eskom prioritised Big Coal. Yes, batteries weren't as cheap but at least one pumped storage site was available https://techcentral.co.za/little-known-disrupting-eskoms-monopoly/265149/

No Loadshedding :) #eskom #loadshedding #load_shedding

Stage 2 loadshedding active #eskom #loadshedding #load_shedding