Aluminium makers are set to boost low-carbon metal output by 10% in 2023 and churn out even more in the years ahead, driving down the cost for carmakers seeking climate-friendly supplies and shrinking the industry's hefty carbon footprint. Aluminium is the most energy-intensive metal to produce, accounting for about 1.1 billion tonnes of global carbon [...]

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan responded with an “emphatic no” to a question as to whether government considered outgoing Eskom CEO André de Ruyter to be a traitor, as implied in a recent statement by Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, who said “Eskom, by not attending to loadshedding, is actively agitating for the [...]

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan responded with an “emphatic no” to a question as to whether government considered outgoing Eskom CEO André de Ruyter to be a traitor, as implied in a recent statement by Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, who said “Eskom, by not attending to loadshedding, is actively agitating for the [...]

Work has started on the Msikaba bridge deck, the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) reports, noting that it took three trucks to transport the first steel bridge deck segment in three sections from Middelburg, in Mpumalanga, and three to five hours to offload each segment at the construction site, near Lusikisiki, in the [...]

The US White House’s Prosper Africa initiative the US-Africa Business Forum’s Deal Room announced on December 14 a package of investments totalling $1-billion over the next five years, to boost African exports and infrastructure and mobilise private investment to accelerate African innovation.    Prosper Africa is a US government initiative to increase two-way trade and investment between African [...]

The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) will award the contracts for the rehabilitation of the M4 Uthongathi bridge and N2 Umhlali River bridge soon. Construction on the Umhlali River bridge is expected to take four months and on construction on the Uthongathi bridge two months.

The board of paper and plastic packaging producer and recycler Mpact has given the go-ahead for a R1.2-billion investment project at its Mkhondo paper mill, in Mpumalanga. Mpact will invest in improvements to the mill’s paper machine, increasing its capacity by about 10 000 t/y to 142 000 t/y.

Development finance institution the International Finance Corporation (IFC) will invest R1-billion in a green bond issued by JSE-listed real estate investment trust Growthpoint Properties. Growthpoint will use the funds to finance energy and water efficiency improvements in its existing office, industrial and retail properties in South Africa. The retrofitting improvements are expected to reduce carbon [...]

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has refused to concur with two electricity procurement determinations submitted by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) under Section 34 of the Energy Regulation Act – including one for a 3 000 MW Combined Cycle Gas Technology (CCGT) project that Eskom plans to develop in Richards [...]

Financial services firm Nedbank has successfully concluded a R3.13-billion sustainability-linked revolving credit facility for insurance and investment management firm Old Mutual. The sustainability-linked loan facility aligns with and supports Old Mutual’s sustainability strategy and ambitions, and delivers on an array of financial objectives for the group. These include a broader, more diversified lender group, as [...]

The Energy Regulator has postponed deciding on Eskom’s tariffs for 2023/24 and 2024/25 after the Electricity Subcommittee (ELS) of the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) requested more time to finalise its recommendation – this only ten days out from a looming December 24 deadline for the regulator to finalise its decision as stipulated [...]

Late on Tuesday, South African time, the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the DOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) confirmed what had been rumoured for the previous couple of days: a huge breakthrough in the field of controlled nuclear fusion research and development. Scientists and engineers of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the [...]