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Amid the expectation of Eskom publishing its winter outlook later this month, the State-owned power utility has meanwhile expressed confidence that it will be able to meet electricity demand as South Africa heads into the winter season, Minerals Council South Africa indicates in an electricity update.

The Minerals Council's update notes, however, that Eskom's energy availability factor declined in March, when it averaged 66.8% compared with the higher 68.3% the month before.

While March's 66.8% fails to meet the 68% target set in last year's Integrated Resource Plan, more than 4 000 MW remains in immediately dispatchable reserve owing to electricity demand continuing to lag supply.

Picking up slightly in March, though, was open cycle gas turbine usage but Eskom attributes this increase to optimisation testing conducted at Gourikwa power station in the Western Cape, rather than to peaking in response to excess demand.

On the maintenance front, planned maintenance is up and unplanned outages are down.

So far this year, unplanned outages have consistently averaged below 10 000 MW, with March recording 9 201 MW, an improvement from the 9 754 MW reported in February.

Planned maintenance increased in March by 1 300 MW compared with February, which suggests that Eskom is continuing to prioritise planned maintenance and upkeep ahead of the winter season.

Compared with the same period last year, total maintenance and outages are lower by 4 400 MW in March 2026, which is broadly consistent with the level of excess capacity currently held in cold storage.

Statistics South Africa data indicates a continued decline in both electricity production and consumption in South Africa.

Seasonally adjusted real electricity generation fell by 3.8% year-on-year in February 2026, extending the monthly decline in generation that began in June 2025.

On a month-on-month basis, electricity generation was down marginally by 0.2% in February.

The long-term trend in electricity production was graphically illustrated in the Minerals Council report by economist André Lourens.

Overall, national electricity output remains below pre-pandemic levels. In January 2026, production was 8.7% below the pre-Covid baseline and 12.4% lower than output recorded in January 2019.

Also graphically illustrated were the changes in seasonally adjusted electricity production and mining production, indexed to a common starting point in January 2019.

Historically, the two series have tracked each other closely, moving in the same direction with a positive correlation of around 0.68, implying that higher mining production was associated with higher electricity production.

However, from April 2025 onward, a clear divergence emerges and the relationship turns negative, meaning that higher mining production is now associated with lower electricity production.

This likely reflects the structural shift underway in the mining sector away from Eskom-supplied electricity.

An increasing share of electricity production and consumption is being met through self-generation, weakening the historical link between Eskom's electricity output and mining production.

As a result, Eskom's production of electricity is no longer a reliable indicator of future mining output.

Given that self-generated electricity is cheaper than Eskom-supplied electricity, this trend is unlikely to reverse in the foreseeable future.

The Minerals Council reports that South Africa's electricity sector is undergoing a fundamental transition.

Despite improved system stability and the absence of loadshedding, electricity production and consumption continue to decline as demand remains subdued.

This is reflected both in the sector's contraction of 4.3% in the fourth quarter of last year's GDP and...

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer unpacks the steps South Africa is taking to initiate first-mover green hydrogen project development; renewable energy on the rise for platinum, iron-ore and diamond mines; and South Africa losing out on the opportunity to produce clean hydrogen

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a global leader in process and laboratory measurement technology, offering a broad portfolio of instruments, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation.

The first megawatt-hours of green electricity have been successfully fed into South Africa's national grid by a newly commissioned solar farm in Limpopo for supply to a mining company in KwaZulu-Natal.

The mine is Richards Bay Minerals, which is part of the Rio Tinto group, and the newly commissioned power plant is Bolobedu Solar Farm, which has been developed by international renewable energy company Voltalia and its empowerment partners.

The heavy mineral sands miner and refiner produces materials used in everyday products that range from paints to smartphones.

Following the agreement signed in 2022, Voltalia and its local black empowerment partners have constructed the plant with a total installed capacity of 148 MW, which once fully operational, will reduce the annual baseline greenhouse gas emissions of Richards Bay Minerals by a minimum of 10% or 237 000 t a year.

This clean energy supply is a step forward in the commitment of Richards Bay Minerals to sustainable mining into the future as part of its recently approved Zulti South project.

The renewable power is supplied through a wheeling arrangement on the transmission network of South Africa's State-owned power utility, Eskom.

Richards Bay Minerals MD Werner Duvenhage described the solar commissioning as a defining moment for the company as it celebrates 50 years of operation in South Africa.

"This initiative is not just about energy security, it's about the long-term sustainability of the business. As we break ground on Zulti South, this initiative paves the way for a cleaner energy future, contributing to both the national power grid and our global decarbonisation targets," added Duvenhage in a release to Mining Weekly.

This initiative is part of RBM's broader portfolio of renewable energy projects, including wind power purchase agreements, which together are expected to reduce the operation's Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by around 60% compared to a 2018 baseline.

Voltalia CEO Robert Klein said: "The delivery of the first megawatt-hours from Bolobedu illustrates our commitment to accelerating the decarbonisation of industries and supporting inclusive energy transition in South Africa involving local communities."

Reflecting a shared commitment to transformation and local development, the project distinguishes itself as the first large-scale renewable energy initiative in the region to feature exclusive local female investors, ensuring that the transition to green energy creates direct equity and wealth for the host communities.

Beyond its technical achievement, the Bolobedu Solar Farm is already delivering strong benefits for the broader community.

During construction, around 800 residents from the three host communities were employed, including 56% youth and 21% women.

Local workers received on-the-job training in engineering support, solar panel installation and health, safety and environment awareness, providing many with their first formal employment opportunities.

The project has also stimulated a growing local value chain, supporting transport cooperatives, women-led catering services and handicraft initiatives.

These socio-economic impacts, combined with long-term skills development programmes, illustrate Voltalia's commitment to an inclusive and sustainable energy transition in Bolobedu, Richards Bay Minerals commented.

As reported by Mining Weekly last year, a total of 500 MW of renewables generation capacity has been secured for Richards Bay Minerals, which consumes 1.8 TWh of power a year.

On the way is also 140 MW from African Clean Energy Developments and 230 MW Red Rocket, both Western Cape wind power producers.

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a global leader in process and laboratory measurement technology, offering a broad portfolio of instruments, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation.

South Africa spelled out a detailed green hydrogen pursuit at the United Nations Industry Development Organisation (UNIDO) conference attended by 70 countries in Vienna on Wednesday, April 8, where South Africa's Industrial Development Corporation green hydrogen just energy transition investment plan programme director Rebecca Maserumule outlined the steps South Africa is taking to initiate first-mover green hydrogen project development.

From a critical meetals perspective, South Africa is the host of the overwhelmingly largest global volumes of platinum group metals, which can serve as catalysts in electrolysers that separate water into hydrogen and oxygen and then play a second catalytic role by converting the hydrogen back into electricity that provides emission-free mobility for buses, trucks trains, cars, ships and planes as well as stationary electricity. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

Hydrogen anchors the global future energy mix, was Maserumule final statement after reporting that the initiatives that are under way to assist first movers include a 120-question final investment decision as swell as the partnering of first movers to international conferences.

"Next month, we'll be in Rotterdam, and the delegation will led by our Minister of Electricity and Energy," Maserumule reported.

The panel discussion, covered by Mining Weekly, was moderated by UK global green industries head Paul Durrant and participating were Germany international green hydrogen ramp-up head Gunther Grathwohl, Netherlands international and European hydrogen senior policy coordinator Rodrigo Scholtbach, Italy hydrogen and its derivatives senior export Roberto Cianella, and Brazil renewable energy division head Lais de Souza Garcia, who expressed strong optimism about the future of hydrogen in the South American country.

"We're living in uncertain times now, so it's not quite clear how much hydrogen we'll need, but what is clear is that we'll need hydrogen," Grathwohl emphasised, adding that it is also clear that Germany is unable to produce the hydrogen it needs domestically, a situation which is quite the opposite in Southern Africa.

"We have amazing renewable resources in wind and solar to producing the hydrogen molecules and be a partner to the rest of the world," Namibia Green Hydrogen Programme policy planning head Joseph Mukendwa pointed out during the opening panel discussion.

This was outlined shortly after the conference heard that two thirds of the volumes of hydrogen needed in Austria will have to be imported, about which Netherlands international and Scholtbach said ditto in the case of the Netherlands, and Germany.

"We have in Europe one of the main demand centres worldwide and if you look a bit further, Japan, South Korea will also be depending on imported volumes," added Scholtbach, which presents major supply opportunity for the global south.

"We're open to importing hydrogen," said Italy's energy markets DG Alessandro Noce, while adding that hydrogen is not only a decarbconiser but a driver of inclusive growth, to which

Durrant, who moderated the discussion, responded that he loved the fact hydrogen brings economic development and growth with its cleanness.

"Africa clearly has vast potential for clean hydrogen production but many of the projects that we've seen mooted in Africa have yet to reach final investment decision. There is clearly a risk that if producing countries and their institutions are consistently required to underwrite the earliest and riskiest stage of development, without the strength of those offtake agreements and other things in place, those countries are essentially de risking projects for others at their own cost.

"From a South African perspective, what would genu...

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a global leader in process and laboratory measurement technology, offering a broad portfolio of instruments, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation.

In honour of World Diamond Day on April 8, the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has revealed some of the world's most famous and fascinating diamonds it has examined over the years.

GIA helps to uncover the science, history and rarity behind diamonds that have captivated collectors, museums and the public for generations. It has since its establishment in 1931 been recognised as the world's foremost authority in gemology and assesses more than four-million diamonds every year.

Among the most remarkable discoveries have been legendary diamonds such as the Hope Diamond, the Dresden Green, the Winston Red, the Taylor-Burton Diamond and the recently examined Motswedi diamond, the largest single crystal diamond ever examined by GIA.

These remarkable diamonds are admired for their beauty and the stories they carry through history.

The 45.52 ct Hope Diamond remains one of the world's most famous coloured diamonds, known for its Fancy Dark grayish blue color and centuries-long journey from India to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC.

The Dresden Green, weighing about 41 ct, is recognized as the largest known natural green diamond, while the 2.33 ct Winston Red is one of the world's rarest pure red diamonds and the only Fancy red diamond on public display.

More recently, GIA examined the 2 488 ct Motswedi diamond, recovered from Botswana in 2024. The rough diamond, a high-purity Type IIa gem, drew worldwide attention for its exceptional size and quality.

Being the second-largest gem-quality diamond ever discovered, the Motswedi offers scientists a rare window into how some of Earth's largest diamonds form deep within the planet, where carbon crystallizes into diamond under extreme pressure and temperature hundreds of kilometres below the surface.

"For nearly a century, GIA has been at the center of advancing gemological knowledge, setting the global standards that underpin confidence in gems and jewelry," said GIA president and CEO Pritesh Patel.

Notably, GIA established the standards for evaluating diamonds – the 4Cs of Diamond Quality and the GIA International Diamond Grading System – in the 1940s and 1950s. The association continues to evolve its scientific research and capabilities to bring clarity and confidence to an increasingly complex landscape.

"The examination of these extraordinary stones reflects not only their rarity and history, but also GIA's enduring commitment to rigorous science, transparency and leadership that gem and jewelry buyers rely on," Patel noted.

GIA has also examined royal treasures, such as the Marie-Thérèse Pink diamond, and historic objects such as the Antique Mughal Spectacles with gemstone lenses.

Through grading and research, GIA helps document the characteristics, origin insights and gemological significance of stones and objects that continue to shape culture, design and public fascination.

GIA's role in examining notable stones reflects its broader mission to protect the public trust in gems and jewellery through science, education and unbiased analysis.