skom has announced the appointment of Brian Dames as chief executive with effect from July 2010. Dames is currently Eskom's chief officer, generation business. He was appointed to Eskom's executive management committee (Exco) in September 2004 after serving Eskom in various management positions. He joined the utility in 1987 as a graduate-in-training... (more) 

Following the public announcement of Eskom's interim results for the financial year ending 31 March 2010, EE Publishers managing director Chris Yelland posed a number of questions to Paul O'Flaherty, Eskom's new finance director, on 9 June 2010... (more)

Many stakeholders and interested parties may wish to participate in the development of IRP 2 but may not be aware of the stakeholder engagement process currently in progress, of the DoE website at www.doe-irp.co.za where information and documentation on the process, and of the time-lines involved may be obtained... (more)

According to the international utility pricing company NUS Consulting, the proposed increases for the average Eskom bulk user will see increases of approximately 8,5 c/kWh while the average  municipal bulk user will be approximately 13,5 c/kWh (or more), a 60% higher increase in Rand terms than Eskom's customers... (more)

When my partner starts talking in "engineer", I become like one of those nodding dogs that people used to have in the back windows of their cars. My head nods, I give a toothy smile and my eyes glaze over. When 'reserve margin' was suggested as a topic for this column... (more)

Once upon a time, there was a country called Utopia where the word "corruption" was unknown and virtue reigned supreme, unlike in neighbouring Pragmatica. When the time came to build a new power station in Utopia, the state-owned power company Uskom decided make it a moral beacon in a sea of sleaze an corruption... (more)

Recent power outages underscore our growing energy requirements and demonstrated the need to focus attention on alternative energy sources. Globally, countries are looking to renewable energy as a cleaner alternative. Perhaps adding renewable energy to the pan-African energy mix could be one of the answers... (more)

Sugar cane is undoubtedly one of the "good" biofuels, because it is difficult to see how growing sugar cane for bio-alcohol can really threaten food supplies. Maybe somewhat less sugar will be available, but one cannot live on sugar... (more)

Eskom recently published a "Request for Information" with the aim of conducting a study on the availability, sustainability, characteristics, logistics and costs of wood based biomass in and around South Africa. Biomass as a fuel source to generate electricity is not new... (more)

There is a great lack of understanding and misinformation in the PV industry, not only amongst consumers but also amongst suppliers. Remember the dreaded load shedding days of 2008. Every vendor in and outside the industry tried to sell alternative energy solutions. The result was many unhappy stories... (more)

Solar thermal energy conversion for power generation for both low and high temperature systems is an active area of research aimed mainly at addressing environmental and climate change concerns, but also as a possible complimentary avenue of tackling the current power supply deficits in Southern Africa... (more)

The increasing drive for renewable energy source is putting pressure on operators to get the most from their power lines. A year-long site trial proves that a dynamic line rating scheme can raise transmission capacity. Changes in the mix of energy are having a big impact on power systems... (more)