Energy

Bloomberg Platinum and gold mines in South Africa stopped operations as the country was hit by record levels of rolling blackouts that are crippling key parts of the economy, threatening another recession. Producers including Sibanye Gold Ltd, the world’s biggest platinum miner, recalled workers from underground and stopped milling ore after state-owned power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd announced it ...

Bloomberg Zimbabwe’s state-owned Zesa Holdings Ltd escalated power cuts to as long as 24 hours after losing regional power imports and local generation capacity remains critically constrained. The power utility has a non-binding agreement to import as much as 400 megawatts of power from South Africa’s Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd, which is unable to meet local demand and has implemented ...

Bloomberg China announced the creation of its long-planned national oil and gas pipeline company, officially kicking off one of its biggest energy revamps aimed at helping supply keep pace with swelling demand. The move marks a “key step” in China’s efforts to deepen reforms of its oil and gas sector, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The government will merge ...

Bloomberg South Africa’s struggling power utility warned rolling blackouts may continue throughout the week as electricity cuts extended to a fifth day. Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd announced it will cut 4,000 megawatts from the grid on Monday, double the initial prognosis, after losing additional generating units at its power stations. While most of the utility’s problems emanate from plant failures, ...

Bloomberg Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd expanded a schedule of rolling blackouts across South Africa after more of the state-owned utility’s generating units failed, spotlighting the fragility of the power supply system. The struggling state-owned company is cutting 4,000 megawatts from the grid, spokeswoman Dikatso Mothae said by phone. So-called stage-4 loadshedding, the highest degree that has been implemented thus far ...

Bloomberg Minority investors in Poland’s state-run companies fled on concerns that a surprise $753 million bid by the country’s top oil refiner to buy a power producer may herald more government efforts to build “cross-industry” national champions. The risk is that some of the biggest companies listed in Warsaw — the worst-performing primary equity index in the world — are ...

Bloomberg Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc is pitching nuclear reactors as the most effective way of powering the production of carbon-neutral synthetic aviation fuel without draining electricity grids. Drawing on technology developed for nuclear-powered submarines, the small modular reactors or SMRs could be located at individual plants.

Bloomberg China will announce the creation of its long-planned national oil and gas pipeline company on December 9, according to people familiar with the matter, as it seals one of its biggest reforms aimed at helping energy supply keep pace with swelling demand. A ceremony to launch the company has been set for 10 am on Monday in Beijing, said ...

Bloomberg PG&E Corp has reached a $13.5 billion settlement with victims of wildfires ignited by its power lines, a major step towards resolving the biggest utility bankruptcy in US history. The settlement will cover claims stemming from some of the worst fires to hit Northern California, including the 2017 wine country fires and the 2018 Camp Fire, the company said ...

Bloomberg China is pursuing a three-year pilot programme, led by five of its biggest utilities, to integrate and cut some coal-fired power capacity to help the debt-saddled industry, state media reported. The pilot, which runs through 2021, will seek to consolidate coal-power assets within five northwestern regions and reduce their capacity by up to one-third, according to a Shanghai Securities ...