News in a Rush

ESKOM
After Eskom "lowered its request for a tariff increase to 35% a year from April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2013, down from 45% a year.", it has now been announced that NERSA has extended the deadline for comments to 14 December 2009. Source: Engineering News.

Government at fault for inertia aroud power crisis structures (Engineering News)

Cosatu threaten to strike over Eskom Price Hike (Engineering News)

Eskom Tariff Hike will Dent Growth and Job Creation (Engineering News)

Eskom's plans to 'improve efficiency' at 3 coal fired power plants to extend service life. - Read more here, on Engineering News

COP15

Legal expert says draft climate proposal not unusual as 'leaked text' sparks anger (Engineering News)

Poor demand more from rich to unlock climate talks (Engineering News)

SA announces emissions target as climate talks start [Engineering News] The article states: "South Africa will undertake mitigation actions which will result in a deviation below the current emissions baseline of around 34% by 2020 and by around 42% by 2025. This level of effort enables the country's emissions to peak between 2020 and 2025, plateau for about a decade and decline in absolute terms thereafter, said the Presidency in a statement.

This undertaking would be conditional upon a fair agreement at the Copenhagen climate change talks and finance, technology and capacity building assistance from the developed nations to developing countries."

World Press Urges Action on Climate Change [Engineering News]

Accountants call for global standard on climate reporting (Engineering News)

RENEWABLE ENERGY

Clear Regulations needed to help SA unlock vast wind power potential (Engineering News) The article states: "A recent technical study undertaken to estimate the scale of the country’s wind resource showed that South Africa has enough economically viable wind energy sites to generate 184-Terawatt hours (TWh) of indigenous, sustainable energy."..."This study, once again, proves that we have a significant wind resource in the country. In order to deliver on our long-term energy future we need to take immediate action." ..."“There’s nothing new to this. There’s already 150 GW of wind energy installed around the globe and its growing by 30 GW a year, employing over 400 000 people worldwide. This is a highly reliable, competitive and scalable form of power generation with zero long-term fuel risks and highly predictable long-term power generation capabilities,”"

German Backed Solar Water Heater Training Facility Launched in Soweto [Engineering News]

Social Partners will have say on Future Energy Mix [Engineering News] Interestingly, this article mentions "...the council argued that the creation of a "nonconflicted" independent system and market operator (ISMO) should be prioritised. The ISMO would be the agency mandated to contract with independent power producers (IPPs), rather than Eskom, which was currently the designated single buyer of IPP power."