6 August 2010 - Eskom and Joint Stock Company “Techsnapexport” (Tenex) signed a contract in Moscow on 5 August 2010 for the supply of low enriched uranium, known as Enriched Uranium Product (EUP) to Eskom.

The negotiations for this contract have been in progress for some time, and were completed during the 9th meeting of the South African and Russian Inter-governmental Technical and Economical Cooperation (ITEC) meeting held in Moscow on 2 and 3 August 2010.

5 August 2010 - The World Bank has recently awarded a grant of $6 million for smart metering and other initiatives in the Republic of Djibouti’s ongoing Power Access and Diversification Project.

The project, which is being undertaken by Electricitè de Djibouti (EDD), is aimed at expanding access to electricity in underserved populations, increasing the reliability of the electricity services, and improving the efficiency of EDD.

5 August 2010 - Africa Cellular Towers Limited (ACTOWERS), an in-house manufacturer of lattice towers as well as a full turnkey installation and supply company for both the telecommunications and power lines industries, is proud to announce that they have been successful in being awarded three Eskom power line projects to a total value of approximately R64 million since February 2010.

4 August 2010 - The Department of Energy was unable to produce a completed integrated energy plan for South Africa yesterday.

Ompi Aphane, the acting deputy director-general for electricity and renewable energy, told MPs serving on the energy portfolio committee yesterday that the department had carried out a public consultation phase and that the national plan now boiled down to a national electricity plan.

2 August 2010 - A Zimbabwean diplomat announced that Iran has opened a multi-million-euro credit line to aid the African state in financing its energy sector.

Zimbabwe's Ambassador to Iran Nicholas Kitikiti said that Iran's €40 million credit line will finance energy, banking and industrial projects in the African country.

The funds would be used to rehabilitate the country's main power station to increase electricity supplies and reduce rationing, Kitikiti  has said.

27 July 2010 - The Ministry of Energy is to start implementation of a new rural electrification project in March 2011, officials have said.

This follows the signing of a US$10million loan agreement between the government and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) in Kampala last week.

26 July 2010 - The government's integrated resource plan (IRP), expected to be released in September, has had little input from consumer groups and civil society.

This was one of the few points that delegates at a conference on renewable energy could agree on. A heated argument over South Africa's energy mix erupted on Thursday as various interests lobbied for preference in the government's long-term plan.

26 July 2010 - Solaire Direct SA managing director Ryan Hammond believes it's only a matter of three years before renewable energy becomes cheaper than traditional fossil fuel electricity.

French solar technology group Solaire Direct is one of many new entrants into the power industry awaiting the outcome of the Department of Energy's integrated resource plan in the coming few months.