(Bloomberg) -- South Africa’s power utility will ramp up power cuts to replenish pumped storage dam levels and maintain sufficient emergency generation reserves. 

Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. will remove 5,000 megawatts from the national grid from 10 p.m. Monday until 5 a.m. Tuesday and then cut 4,000 megawatts until further notice, it said in a WhatsApp message. 

South Africa Eyes $3 Billion NDB Loan for Transmission, BD Says (Sept. 11, 9:48 a.m.)

South Africa may get a $3 billion loan from the New Development Bank, the development finance institution set up by BRICS, to fund its electricity-transmission network, Business Day reported.

The loan would be disbursed over three years, the Johannesburg-based newspaper cited Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa as saying at a press conference on Sunday.

Read More: South Africa Eyes $3 Billion NDB Loan for Transmission, BD Says

Arrests at the Kusile Power Station (Sept. 8, 4:56 p.m.)

Police arrested nine people at Eskom’s Kusile Power Station on Thursday for theft of coal and fraud, the utility said in a statement.

“A thorough investigation by the South African Police Service and an internal Eskom investigation supported by the Bidvest Protea Coin Investigation Team led to the arrest,” the state-owned company said. That’s “after information was received that coal haulers would bypass Kusile Power Station without offloading the ordered coal,” it said.

Germany’s KFW Offers Eskom €200 Million Loan for Transmission (Sept. 8, 9:48 a.m.)

The German development bank, KFW, has offered a €200 million ($214 million) loan to Eskom to further develop its transmission grid in the Northern Cape and Western Cape provinces.

The sovereign loan, part of an $8.5 billion energy transition pact between South Africa and some of the world’s richest countries, would enable Eskom to add 2,200 megawatts of renewable energy to the national grid, the German embassy to South Africa said Thursday. The advance requires approval from the utility and the National Treasury.

Read More: Germany’s KFW Offers Eskom €200 Million Loan for Transmission

South African Firm Withdraws Case Opposing Eskom Grid Rules (Sept. 7, 3:15 p.m.)

South African power-project developer G7 Renewable Energies withdrew a case opposing new rules governing the connection of power plants to the national electricity grid, after adjustments were made on how they would be implemented.

The company brought the case against Eskom in July, arguing that interim rules that were adopted to make the process of getting access to the grid more equitable would actually hinder new operators. Industry discussions that followed helped to resolve issues around the new protocol, according to G7.

Read More: South African Firm Withdraws Case Opposing Eskom Grid Rules 

Moody’s Upgrades Eskom Rating (Sept. 6, 2:47 p.m.)

Moody’s Investors Service upgraded its rating on Eskom’s long-term unguaranteed debt to B2 from Caa1, following the July 5 signing of a law that enabled the National Treasury to provide Eskom with debt relief and the first disbursement of money last month. Moody’s also changed the outlook on the debt to stable from positive.

Read More: Moody’s Upgrades Eskom Unguaranteed Ratings; Outlook Stable

 

--With assistance from Paul Burkhardt and Rene Vollgraaff.

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