The right combination of data and algorithms can produce astounding improvements in efficiency, speed, and oversight. While many water utilities already use digital monitoring and analytics to manage operations, artificial intelligence builds on these capabilities by identifying patterns in large datasets, enabling predictive insights, and supporting more informed decision-making. Utility managers are taking note, with around 15% of large water utilities across the world using artificial intelligence, set to reach 30% by 2026, according to the Xylem Water Technology Trends 2025 report. By 2035, three-quarters of water utilities will use some form of AI.

SOLA Group has achieved Financial Close (FC) on its Naos-1 Hybrid Solar and Battery Project, a 300 MW (435 MWp) solar PV facility with 660 MWh of battery energy storage (BESS).  Enabled by long-term power purchase agreements with Sasol and Air Liquide, the project marks a major milestone in South Africa’s private power market, being the country’s first utility-scale solar PV and battery energy storage project purpose-built for wheeling to private end-users across the grid.

Following the announcement of its second renewable energy supply agreement with energy aggregator and trader NOA Group Trading (“NOA”), Pan African Resources (“Pan African” or the “Company” or the “Group”) has confirmed substantial cost savings and long-term energy supply stability, unlocking operational efficiencies and achieving an anticipated renewable energy penetration of 70% of the Group’s total electricity load.

Plastics SA, the umbrella body representing the South African plastics industry, has released its latest annual plastics consumption and recycling figures for the year ending December 2024. According to Anton Hanekom, Executive Director of Plastics SA, the results show encouraging growth in the use of recycled plastics, despite persistent challenges within South Africa’s waste management system.

Garyn Rapson, Partner & Gaura Moodley, Trainee Attorney at Webber Wentzel

South African environmental law is undergoing a decisive shift in how climate change considerations are integrated into environmental authorisation (EA) decision-making. Courts are increasingly recognising climate change as a material consideration within the "need and desirability" assessment required under the National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998 (NEMA), particularly regarding fossil-fuel developments. This judicial path coincides with the publication of the Draft National Guideline for the Consideration of Climate Change Implications in Applications for Environmental Authorisations in terms of section 24J of NEMA on 24 October 2025 (Draft National Guideline). Once finalised, the Draft National Guideline will be a mandatory consideration for competent authorities when determining EA applications, alongside other relevant factors contemplated in section 24O of NEMA.