Ethiopia has completed the third phase of filling the reservoir for its huge dam on the Blue Nile river, the government said on Friday, a process that continues to irk the country's downstream neighbours Egypt and Sudan. Addis Ababa says the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), a $4-billion hydropower project, is crucial to powering its [...]

The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), which is that country’s agency for the development of nuclear fusion power, has selected a consortium, led by design, engineering and project management consultancy Atkins (part of Canada’s multinational SNC-Lavalin group) as prime contractor, to be its engineering delivery partner for its Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) programme. [...]

Sovereign defaults by both Zambia and Zimbabwe have escalated the Batoka Gorge hydro-electric project cost, with the estimated price climbing 23% to almost $5-billion. The plan, which is being developed by General Electric and Power Construction Corporation of China, needs credit support, the Zambezi River Authority said in an emailed response to questions. This may [...]

US-based global multinational materials science company Dow, most famous for its chemical production (concentrated in subsidiary Dow Chemicals), has announced that it had signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with US small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) company X-energy. Under that LoI, Dow and X-energy will work together to deploy the latter’s Xe-100 advanced high-temperature gas [...]

Rail industry body the African Rail Industry Association (Aria) suggests several interventions to help State-owned Transnet address its prevailing inefficiencies, including re-introducing systems it used in the past and the prioritisation of maintenance of currently disabled locomotives, besides others. Despite declaring a profit of R5-billion for the 2022 financial year, Transnet cannot “hide” the fact [...]

US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) believes it is well positioned to feed projects into the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), which was established between South Africa and several developed countries, including the US, in 2020, and which is expected to progress towards implementation later this year. The JETP includes an initial offer of $8.5-billion [...]

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and Transnet have obtained a preservation order from the Special Tribunal to freeze five luxury properties, and pension benefits valued at about R1.8-million, linked to former Transnet executives and their spouses, pending the final determination of civil proceedings for recovery of damages or losses and disgorgement of secret profits. The [...]

South Africa’s Central Energy Fund (CEF) has completed its due diligence on its R1-billion investment in emerging integrated energy producer Renergen’s Virginia gas project. Marking a major step towards finalising the agreement between Renergen and the CEF, both parties have now started engaging with their respective stakeholders to obtain final approvals to complete the transaction.

Two separate opinion polls undertaken in Germany have both shown that the greater number of those polled want the life of the country’s three remaining nuclear power reactors to be extended, “World Nuclear News” has pointed out. The three reactors are currently scheduled to be shut down at the end of this year, for political [...]

The African regions are continuing to excel on all fronts for Barrick, the large gold-copper miner that is benefitting from a stand-out performance in Tanzania, is finding exploration in Mali and Senegal “a gift that keeps giving”, and is being received with open arms in Pakistan. Under the highly experienced leadership of Barrick’s South African-born [...]

Gold and copper mining company Barrick has taken the lead in integrating the various aspects of environmental social governance (ESG) to ensure holistic and objective measurement, Barrick CE Dr Mark Bristow stated on Monday, when the New York- and Toronto-listed company reported strong second-quarter operating performance that generated $169-million free cash. Barrick has launched a [...]

State-owned electricity utility Eskom has confirmed that Unit 2 at the Koeberg nuclear power station was returned to service at 20:24 on Sunday, August 7. “The unit is currently loading and will require about ten days to reach full output,” spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha confirmed in an emailed response to an Engineering News enquiry.