Despite several issues related to load reduction in certain municipalities, the overall energy outlook for the country has been generally positive in recent months. When it comes to renewable energy plans, the outlook is less optimistic, especially as this week the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) rejected Eskom’s bid to reserve a portion of the national energy grid to allow private companies to connect and add electricity.

This was cited by the South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) in a statement, with it noting NERSA has several regulatory concerns as it pertains to renewable energy projects and the independent power producer programme.

“The failure to address grid allocation processes has resulted in significant delays and financial losses, devastating investor confidence and jeopardising the success of wind energy projects. With no solution in sight, the grid challenges will continue to undermine the open electricity market envisaged by the Electricity Regulation Act Amendment Bill,” SAWEA warned.

Those hoping for more renewable energy projects to crop up in the coming years in order to address the country’s electricity woes, may now need to place those hopes elsewhere.

Along with the delays to renewable energy in South Africa, this morning’s SPEEDRUN also includes a report on genAI in the local workplace, the slow uptake of Windows 11, an Afrikaans-only online school, FNB’s latest township initiative, and NVIDIA caught scraping what it shouldn’t.

[Image – Photo by Antonio Garcia on Unsplash]