Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Pieter van Dalen stole the show in the debate on energy on Tuesday when he announced Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa as the “king of coal” for the money his companies have made from selling coal to electricity-hungry South Africa.
“Shanduka has over the years become the biggest owner of coal mines. Shanduka was the frontrunner in terms of coal production‚ producing 50% of the Junior Mining Sector producer market share. Isn’t it strange that deputy president Ramaphosa is now leading the ‘War Room on Energy’?
“We want the special pricing agreements for coal between Shanduka/Glencore and Eskom to be open as the price increases form a large part of the crises we face today‚” said Van Dalen‚ to an uproar from African National Congress (ANC) MPs.
The long-awaited and very controversial South African nuclear acquisition process‚ worth billions of rand‚ will begin in the second half of the year‚ energy minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson announced during the debate.
The process‚ which critics have warned may lead to a scandal worse than the arms deal‚ especially if it leads to a Russian sweetheart deal‚ has been the focus of much debate.
“We will commence with the actual nuclear procurement process in the second quarter of this financial year to select a strategic partner or partners in a competitive‚ fair‚ transparent and cost-effective manner. We expect to present the outcome of this procurement process to Cabinet by year end‚” Joemat-Pettersson said during her budget vote.
She said the Cabinet-approved IRP 2010 provides for 9600MW of electricity to be generated through nuclear power‚ with the first unit commissioned by 2023.
“In this regard‚ South Africa has signed various inter-governmental agreements‚ laying the foundation for co-operation‚ trade and exchange for nuclear technology as well as procurement. These agreements describe broad areas of nuclear co-operation and they differ on emphasis‚ based on the unique needs of each country‚” said Joemat-Pettersson.
“Completed inter-governmental agreements will be submitted to Cabinet for discussion and endorsement in the coming weeks. The requisite parliamentary processes for ratification of these agreements will follow.
“Vendor parades have been completed with all nuclear vendor countries that have shown interest to participate in the nuclear new build programme‚” the minister announced.
Joemat-Pettersson conceded that South Africa’s lack of timely co-ordination of our planning‚ alignment and implementation of our country’s energy programmes has created serious challenges.
“I want to reassure South Africans that the load-shedding which prevails is receiving our highest priority for urgent resolution. Partnerships have been established between government‚ labour‚ business and civil society to find solutions to our problems‚ in keeping with the great spirit of our country.
“Our government’s urgent response to load-shedding has accelerated the finalisation of the much-awaited Integrated Energy Plan. Once approved by Cabinet‚ the Integrated Energy Plan will be published as a policy document.
“This plan will inform our future energy mix and prioritise policy interventions for future programmes within the energy sector‚” she promised‚ and gave some examples.
“The request for information for gas-fired generation will be released to the market (on Tuesday). The outcome of this will guide us in the design of the gas-to-power procurement programme for a combined 3126MW allocation.
“We expect the request for proposals to be released to the market in September 2015‚ with a bid submission phase planned for the first quarter of 2016.
“Furthermore‚ the request for proposals in relation to new coal-fired generation was released to the market in December 2014‚ with the bid submission to be finalised in August. Preferred bidders for this programme will be announced before the end of December.”
DA MP Ian Ollis said in the first 100 days of 2015‚ South Africa experienced approximately 33 days of blackouts. That sets a new record for the country – exceeding the previous record blackout total of 22 days in 2008.
Ollis‚ speaking on behalf of DA energy spokesman Gordon Mackay who is overseas‚ said the government’s integrated resource plan of 2013 was being hidden in the same way the international atomic energy agency country report is hidden — because it shows that South Africa cannot safely implement a nuclear power programme.
He also pointed out that‚ as long as the Independent Systems Market Operator Bill (ISMO) is shelved by the ANC government‚ it is not possible for electricity prices to decrease.
“Echoing these findings are a series of reports from the World Association of Nuclear Operators‚ which found the capacity of management staff at Koeberg to be sub-optimal and identifying the cash crunch at Eskom as negatively impacting on long-term nuclear safety at SA’s sole nuclear power station‚” Ollis warned.
Ramaphosa hailed as the ‘king of coal’ during energy debate
Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Pieter van Dalen stole the show in the debate on energy on Tuesday when he announced Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa as the “king of coal” for the money his companies have made from selling coal to electricity-hungry South Africa.
“Shanduka has over the years become the biggest owner of coal mines. Shanduka was the frontrunner in terms of coal production‚ producing 50% of the Junior Mining Sector producer market share. Isn’t it strange that deputy president Ramaphosa is now leading the ‘War Room on Energy’?
“We want the special pricing agreements for coal between Shanduka/Glencore and Eskom to be open as the price increases form a large part of the crises we face today‚” said Van Dalen‚ to an uproar from African National Congress (ANC) MPs.
The long-awaited and very controversial South African nuclear acquisition process‚ worth billions of rand‚ will begin in the second half of the year‚ energy minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson announced during the debate.
The process‚ which critics have warned may lead to a scandal worse than the arms deal‚ especially if it leads to a Russian sweetheart deal‚ has been the focus of much debate.
“We will commence with the actual nuclear procurement process in the second quarter of this financial year to select a strategic partner or partners in a competitive‚ fair‚ transparent and cost-effective manner. We expect to present the outcome of this procurement process to Cabinet by year end‚” Joemat-Pettersson said during her budget vote.
She said the Cabinet-approved IRP 2010 provides for 9600MW of electricity to be generated through nuclear power‚ with the first unit commissioned by 2023.
“In this regard‚ South Africa has signed various inter-governmental agreements‚ laying the foundation for co-operation‚ trade and exchange for nuclear technology as well as procurement. These agreements describe broad areas of nuclear co-operation and they differ on emphasis‚ based on the unique needs of each country‚” said Joemat-Pettersson.
“Completed inter-governmental agreements will be submitted to Cabinet for discussion and endorsement in the coming weeks. The requisite parliamentary processes for ratification of these agreements will follow.
“Vendor parades have been completed with all nuclear vendor countries that have shown interest to participate in the nuclear new build programme‚” the minister announced.
Joemat-Pettersson conceded that South Africa’s lack of timely co-ordination of our planning‚ alignment and implementation of our country’s energy programmes has created serious challenges.
“I want to reassure South Africans that the load-shedding which prevails is receiving our highest priority for urgent resolution. Partnerships have been established between government‚ labour‚ business and civil society to find solutions to our problems‚ in keeping with the great spirit of our country.
“Our government’s urgent response to load-shedding has accelerated the finalisation of the much-awaited Integrated Energy Plan. Once approved by Cabinet‚ the Integrated Energy Plan will be published as a policy document.
“This plan will inform our future energy mix and prioritise policy interventions for future programmes within the energy sector‚” she promised‚ and gave some examples.
“The request for information for gas-fired generation will be released to the market (on Tuesday). The outcome of this will guide us in the design of the gas-to-power procurement programme for a combined 3126MW allocation.
“We expect the request for proposals to be released to the market in September 2015‚ with a bid submission phase planned for the first quarter of 2016.
“Furthermore‚ the request for proposals in relation to new coal-fired generation was released to the market in December 2014‚ with the bid submission to be finalised in August. Preferred bidders for this programme will be announced before the end of December.”
DA MP Ian Ollis said in the first 100 days of 2015‚ South Africa experienced approximately 33 days of blackouts. That sets a new record for the country – exceeding the previous record blackout total of 22 days in 2008.
Ollis‚ speaking on behalf of DA energy spokesman Gordon Mackay who is overseas‚ said the government’s integrated resource plan of 2013 was being hidden in the same way the international atomic energy agency country report is hidden — because it shows that South Africa cannot safely implement a nuclear power programme.
He also pointed out that‚ as long as the Independent Systems Market Operator Bill (ISMO) is shelved by the ANC government‚ it is not possible for electricity prices to decrease.
“Echoing these findings are a series of reports from the World Association of Nuclear Operators‚ which found the capacity of management staff at Koeberg to be sub-optimal and identifying the cash crunch at Eskom as negatively impacting on long-term nuclear safety at SA’s sole nuclear power station‚” Ollis warned.
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