South Africa : Government To Revamp Energy Sector

South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday, July 25, 2022 announced a series of measures aimed at increasing the country’s energy supply after recent power cuts of unprecedented intensity disrupted the supply chain and caused immense damage to the economy in the country. While issuing directives on how the reforms should be carried, President Ramaphosa who held consultations with stakeholders, energy experts outside the government to find a collective solution to the energy crisis said, “After a decade of unstable power supplies, South Africans are justifiably frustrated and are also angry because the shortage of electricity is a huge constraint on economic growth and job creation”.
A cascade of breakdowns and strike actions at Eskom’s fleet of ageing coal stations have plunged South Africans into darkness for up to 12 hours a day this winter, accelerating the utility’s long decline and adding to pressure on the ruling African National Congress. To curb the shortage, the government has enlisted the private sector in an emergency plan to tackle the worst-ever rolling blackouts in Africa’s most industrialised economy, by scrapping controls on companies generating their own power outside the broken Eskom monopoly. The government will also double its procurement of renewable energy this year to more than 5,000 megawatts and c...