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Finalising funding solutions for the expedited expansion of South Africa's electricity transmission grid has been identified as a key priority for the Just Energy Transition (JET) project management unit (PMU), which is located within the Presidency.

The unit is overseeing the implementation of the country's JET Investment Plan (JET-IP), which was approved in 2022 with the goal of stimulating R1.5-trillion (about $80-billion) in clean electricity, new energy vehicles and green-hydrogen investments, while also supporting workers and communities whose lives and livelihoods will be made vulnerable by the transition.

The electricity sector investments under the plan are estimated at R712-billion, including transmission and distribution investments of more than R140-billion between 2023 and 2027.

The JET-IP has received grant and concessional-loan pledges worth $11.6-billion from several developed countries. However, there is growing criticism over the lack of visible projects, with most of the concessional debt having flowed into the general fiscus in the form of policy loans and the bulk of the grant funding approvals having been made in favour of consultants rather than communities.

JET PMU head Joanne Yawitch reports that transmission projects to unlock new renewables capacity have been identified as an urgent area for JET-IP investment.

Both private investment and concessional loans to Eskom are being discussed and various off-balance-sheet solutions have been considered for grid-related investments together with Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, Eskom, the National Treasury and other partners.

One of the conditions of the R254-billion debt-relief package granted to Eskom in 2023 states that the utility is not allowed to raise new debt funding unless it applies for an exemption from the Finance Minister to do so.

To date no such application has been made, but Yawitch reports that moves are under way to ensure that Eskom is able to access the concessional finance that has been pledged in support of the JET-IP, initially by the European Union, France, Germany, the UK and the US in 2021.

The Netherlands and Demark have subsequently joined the founding International Partners Group (IPG), while Canada, Spain and Switzerland indicated their support for South Africa's JET-IP framework, without joining the IPG.

It has been concluded that Eskom's balance sheet, as well as that of the emerging National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA), would be insufficient to build new grid infrastructure at a pace that was fully aligned with the opportunity to add much-needed new renewables generation capacity.

The Presidency's Rudi Dicks, who heads the project management office that oversees the JET PMU, reports that his office is tracking a pipeline of some 12.6 GW of new renewables capacity that will be seeking to connect to the grid in the coming three years over and above what could be procured under the public procurement rounds.

Government is, thus, keen for the grid investment to be fast-tracked when compared with Eskom's prevailing Transmission Development Plan, which Dicks says will require the building of at least 1 500 km of new powerlines yearly to meet the goal of adding 14 000 km to the network by 2032.

"Therefore, Cabinet has made a decision that it's going to be important to think of how we partner with the private sector using various forms of private sector participation in expanding and growing the transmission network."

Ramokgopa has indicated separately that government is seeking a "EPC plus F" concept, involving the engineering, procurement, construction plus financing of new transmission infrastructure.

The Minister has also stated that a transmission procurement agency will be established and could be located within either the Development Bank of Sou...

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Hive Hydrogen South Africa has signed an agreement with Genesis Eco-Energy to implement 372 MW of wind power in the Western Cape, in support of the development of its R105-billion green ammonia project at Coega in the Eastern Cape.

The Coega green ammonia hub is a flagship investment project in South Africa, led by Hive Energy and co-developer BuiltAfrica.

BuiltAfrica, which has a 25% stake in Hive Hydrogen South Africa, was founded in 2009 by former Eskom CEO and former Standard Bank chairperson Thulani Gcabashe as an investment and development business focused on sectors that support sustainable development. Gcabashe is the current chairperson of Hive Hydrogen South Africa.

The two wind farms of independent power producer (IPP) Genesis Eco-Energy are expected to bring with it significant employment opportunities.

Hive Hydrogen South Africa's green ammonia project, which has been tabled at the Presidential Investment Summit in Sandton, was awarded Strategic Integrated Project status by the Ministry of Public Works in November 2022.

A total of 3 480 MW of power will be generated to supply the plant and will bring much-needed investment to the transmission network.

The project development will also enable other IPPs in the Beaufort West region to connect their power generation assets to the grid which will reduce loadshedding.

"We've been working with Genesis on these two outstanding projects of theirs for over a year and are delighted to have finalised implementation terms with them to ensure a meaningful supply of power is secured for the project," Hive Energy Africa CEO Colin Loubser stated in a media release to Mining Weekly.

Hive Hydrogen South Africa will continue working with Genesis to secure additional power for the Coega green ammonia project which, once the first phase is built, will require three further phases to supply power.

"The Hive Green Ammonia project will incorporate our large-scale wind farms to deliver significant benefits to the Eastern Cape province, creating large numbers of jobs in a struggling economy. We're thrilled to be part of delivering this energy solution," said Genesis MD Davin Chown.

BuiltAfrica participated in the early rounds of renewable energy procurement under the South African government's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme, or REIPPPP. During this period two solar generation plants were built and are in operation. In addition to this, BuiltAfrica, which has been chaired by Gcabashe since its inception, was involved in energy efficiency projects aimed at lowering peak demand on the power system.

Hive Energy, headquartered in the UK, is the 75% stakeholder of Hive Hydrogen South Africa and is the principal funder and co-developer of the project, which is located in Midrand, Gauteng, and Nelson Mandela Bay, Eastern Cape.

Hive Energy was founded in 2010 by Giles Redpath to participate in the significant solar photovoltaic expansion across England. The company now operates in 17 countries globally with its largest projects in Spain. It is developing eight green hydrogen/ammonia projects globally. Once complete, the projects will have the capacity to produce some 8 500 000 t of hydrogen/ammonia each year to support the global drive to net-zero emissions by 2050. The UK's largest solar park is on its list of developments and it is currently developing Spain's first green hydrogen/ammonia hub.

In addition to its eight gigascale green hydrogen/ammonia projects, more than 28 000 MW of renewable energy projects feature, so far generating more than £1.9-billion capital expenditure in green energy, saving 1.9-million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.

Genesis Eco-Energy Developments, which is part of the Genesis Infrastructure and Renewable Energy Group, is headquartered in Cape Town and is developing 6.5 GW...

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Energy and chemicals group Sasol has moved to address investor concerns that its yearly production at Secunda will need to fall to only 6.7-million tons for it to meet its goal of reducing the carbon-heavy Mpumalanga complex's greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030.

Delivering his final results presentation, outgoing CEO Fleetwood Grobler insisted that the 6.7-million tons output profile announced in August represented the "low road" production scenario that emerged following a review of its emission roadmap once the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) was eliminated as a plausible feedstock for Secunda.

The review resulted in Sasol impairing the Secunda asset by R35-billion.

The JSE group had since progressed with various mitigation actions to ensure that volumes did not fall below 7-million tons while still meeting the goal of reducing coal volumes by 25% by 2030 and honouring its increasingly urgent decarbonisation commitments.

Central to these plans is a coal de-stoning initiative, designed to recover its coal quality, alongside initiatives to stabilise volumes through coal purchases and possibly by diverting export coal to Secunda in line with an expectation that the seaborne market will weaken as countries reduce their reliance on the energy mineral.

Sasol is already familiar with the dense-medium separation technology that will be employed to de-stone the coal and expects to make a final investment decision (FID) this year, having already made significant progress in securing the necessary environmental approvals.

Grobler refused to be drawn on the investment value and told Engineering News in an interview that the capital expenditure figure would be revealed only once the FID was made.

"The project is progressing at pace because it's one of the biggest value-unlock projects we have, so it's a priority for us," Grobler said in an interview, following the release of the group's interim results.

Sasol's headline earnings a share fell 34% to R20.37 in the six months to December 31, 2023, from R30.90 in the previous comparable period.

Grobler said the de-stoning project, together with the group's other initiatives to improve coal quality and supply, could result in Secunda's production volumes recovering to about 7.5-million in the latter part of the current decade.

The bulk of the decarbonisation would, thus, arise from the group's plan to turn down its power station boilers, rather than its gasifiers.

"There's a big misconception that we have to go to 6.7-million to meet our decarbonisation target," Grobler told Engineering News.

Sasol expects Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy is to make a decision next month on its controversial proposed alternative approach for measuring the sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions from the 17 coal boilers at Secunda. Grobler reiterated that a refusal by the Minister would result in the phased shutdown of Secunda.

Should it receive approval, the commitment to reducing its coal consumption by 25% would be met by the boiler turndown plan, which would also enable it to meet its SO2 legal obligations and most of its decarbonisation, the balance of which would be met through a reduction in Secunda's output to 7-million tons by 2030.

"This means that the alternative source of carbon required to supplement production is not equivalent to the full 25% cost reduction," Grobler stressed.

NO GAS-CLIFF REPRIEVE

The group was working on a range of feedstock options, including raising the proportion of gas used in Secunda's production process from about 10% currently to about 13%.

The gas option would depend materially on the group's exploration success in southern Mozambique, where four additional wells had extended the supply plateau to 2028 and where there may be potential to extend the plateau to 2030 should the recen...

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Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says all the work being done by government on the financial structure to facilitate private investment into the country's transmission infrastructure is being consolidated under his Ministry, including the work being done on the issue by the National Treasury and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

This confirmation follows an announcement in the National Treasury's Budget Review that a request for proposals will be released by the end of July for a pilot project involving "off-balance-sheet financing to accelerate private-sector investment in transmission, without negatively affecting Eskom's balance sheet and the fiscus".

Ramokgopa indicated during a briefing on the implementation of the Energy Action Plan that his Ministry had been working with the National Treasury, the IFC and others on what he termed an "EPC plus F" concept, involving the engineering, procurement, construction plus financing of new transmission infrastructure.

He insisted that the plan was being coordinated under his auspices with the intention of settling on a way to structure such transactions without the need for government guarantees or undermining the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA), the grid and system operator currently being established as an independent entity under Eskom Holdings.

"I'm confident that within the next two weeks I will be coming back to the country to say: 'This is how we are going to progress'," Ramokgopa said.

Internal discussions within government, including discussions with the NTCSA, still had to be finalised, however. Once concluded, it was possible that private sector participation could be directed towards supporting three priority corridors, which Ramokgopa indicated could unlock 2 300 MW of new renewables generation capacity.

He also expressed confidence that there was funding available for developing new grid infrastructure based on a build, own, operate and transfer model used internationally, which would be "domesticated" for the South African context, including the policy that the NTCSA remained the sole system operator and the custodian of the grid.

Lessons were being drawn from South Africa's experiences in procuring generation capacity from private investors, including the value of having procurement located at "arm's length" from government's bureaucratic processes, as has been the case with the Independent Power Producer Office.

Prior to the appointment of the NTSCA board earlier in the year, the Minister indicated that the transmission procurement agency might be located within either the Development Bank of Southern Africa or the Industrial Development Corporation.

The NTCSA already had a Transmission Development Plan and any private sector participation would be guided by that plan with the intention of accelerating implementation.

There is also an ambition to channel concessional and grant funding towards transmission projects, especially the nearly $12-billion in funding committed to the Just Energy Transition Partnership Implementation Plan. To date, this funding has not been integrated with physical projects, with most of the concessional loans approved to date having flowed into the general fiscus as 'policy loans'.

"We are not sitting with a money problem; we are sitting with a structuring problem … and we are at an advanced stage on [finalising that structure]," Ramokgopa insisted.

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The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) reports that a further 124 generation facilities were registered during the third quarter of its financial year from October to December, increasing the number of facilities registered since 2018 to 1 087.

The newly registered generators have a combined capacity of 605 MW and a collective investment value of R7.8-billion.

Most of the projects, 122 in total, are solar photovoltaic (PV) plants, with a combined capacity of 604 MW, with two projects with a combined capacity of 1 MW being solar PV generators combined with battery energy storage systems.

The Western Cape had the highest number of registrations during the period, 33 in total, with a combine capacity of 16 MW and an investment value of R222-million, but the North West attracted the biggest plants with the highest investment value.

The eight projects registered in the North West have a combined capacity of 372 MW and a combined investment value of R3.54-billion.

The Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces also attracted large projects, with the 11 generators in Limpopo having a combined capacity of 83 MW, while attracting R1.82-billion in investment and Mpumalanga's five projects involving 77 MW and R1.3-billion in investment.

There were 23 registrations in Gauteng (16 MW and R222-million), 14 in KwaZulu-Natal (10 MW and R140-million), 14 in the Eastern Cape (18 MW and R284-million), 11 in the Free State (12 MW and R233-million) and five in the Northern Cape (1 MW and R13-million).

Nersa calculated the average investment cost for the third quarter to be R12 817/kW.

It also reported that 86 generation facilities, with a combined capacity of 568 MW and an investment value of R7.2-billion, are connected to the Eskom network while 38 generation facilities are connected to the municipal distribution network and generate a total of 37 MW, with an investment value of R500-million.

Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies' Gaylor Montmasson-Clair, who tracks registrations over the calendar year, reported in January that a total of 4 530 MW of renewables generators had been registered with Nersa in 2023, which he said was almost three times that registered in 2022, and more than 50 times the registration recorded in 2021.

Montmasson-Clair attributed the rise to government's decision to remove licensing requirement on distributed projects.

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Naamsa | The Automotive Business Council has welcomed the announcementby Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana in his Budget Speech on Wednesday that government will offer financial support for the local automotive industry to expand from the production of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to a manufacturing line-up that includes electric vehicles (EVs).

However, while "that number is a good start, it will not be enough", cautions Naamsa CEO Mikel Mabasa.

"A notable component of the Minister's announcement is the introduction of an investment allowance for new EV investments, set to commence in March 2026," he explains.

"This allowance enables businesses and investors involved in EV production to claim 150% of their qualifying investment spending in the first year.

"This financial incentive is a crucial step in attracting investments, fostering

innovation, and driving the growth of the EV sector within South Africa."

The investment allowance for EVs is a complementary initiative to government's existing Automotive Production Development Programme (APDP.)

Mabasa notes, however, that the allocated R964-million for this new initiative should be viewed in the context of the average annual investment by all seven of the country's original equipment manufacturers (OEMs, or vehicle manufacturers), which currently totals about R5-billion.

"It is also important to note that the investment support is coming only in 2026. In 2026 you won't have seven OEMs in South Africa as you do now. You'll have nine - BAIC and Stellantis will also be here. We don't think government is taking this into account.

"It is a good start, make no mistake, but we'll continue to engage government to get an additional allocation," says Mabasa.

Yesterday's Budget announcement also made no mention of incentives for consumers to buy the more pricey EVs - another matter high on the local automotive industry's wish list.

"Government has indicated that this will form part of Phase 2, with Phase 1 the incentivisation of EV production," Mabasa tells Engineering News Online.

"By Phase 2 the economy has hopefully turned, enabling us to stimulate demand for EVs."

Local Content Focus

Naamsa notes that the composition of the APDP post the EV investment-phase remains critical in ensuring the transitioning from traditional ICE vehicles to a dual platform that includes EVs by 2035.

The current APDP rewards the use of locally made parts, among other factors.

Of specific concern is EV battery production, which is largely situated in Japan, South Korea and China.

The battery is the most expensive part of an EV.

"The industry will continue to engage with government to carefully manage some of the challenges associated with the implementation of the APDP, especially concerning vehicles with limited local content," says Mabasa.

"We hope to compare notes around the adoption of an APDP rate specifically designed to cover instances of low local content."

Massive Losses Owing to Loadshedding

Mabasa adds that Naamsa recognises the Budget's attention to challenges in the electricity sector, with a specific focus on reducing loadshedding and improving energy security.

"The impractical levels of loadshedding experienced in 2023 had significant repercussions for the automotive industry, resulting in substantial financial losses and deferred investment funding," he warns.

"With losses reaching R200-million per OEM for the last six months of 2023, the industry is eager to see improvements which will enhance operational stability and drive future investments."

Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses the key topics raised by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana in his 2024 Budget speech.

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Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana unveiled a far-reaching reform in relation to government's treatment of the Gold and Foreign Exchange Contingency Reserve Account (GFECRA), which will result in R150-billion in drawdowns from the account over the coming three years to reduce government borrowings.

The settlements will be in three tranches, including R100-billion in 2024/25 and R25-billion apiece in the subsequent two financial years, and the proceeds will help reduce government's gross borrowing requirement from R553.1-billion in 2023/24 to R428.5-billion in 2026/27.

The distributions will also reduce debt-service costs by R30.2-billion over the coming three years, when compared with the estimate outlined in the 2023 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS).

GFECRA is an account held at the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and captures losses and profits on foreign currency reserve transactions and protects the bank from currency volatility.

Several economists have been urging the National Treasury to consider using the account to avert a debt crisis, given a surge in borrowings in recent years amid an increasingly distressed tax base, and persistently low growth. The National Treasury revised South Africa's 2023 growth down to 0.6% and forecast growth of only 1.3% for the current year.

Research and consultation regarding the GFECRA have been under way for a number of months, but it was not clear ahead of the Budget whether these had progressed to a point where the account could be employed to support the national finances.

When the rand depreciates, as it has done consistently since about 2011, the balance in the account improves, with balances in favour of the SARB having surged from R28-billion in 2023 to R507.3-billion in January 2024.

Under a proposed settlement agreement, which was being formalised between the National Treasury and the SARB, a portion of the valuation gains will be drawn down over the coming three years to reduce borrowings.

Godongwana also tabled legislation along with his Budget documents outlining an amendment to the Gold and Foreign Exchange Contingency Reserve Account Defrayal Act, 2003, to give effect to the drawdowns.

To make the R150-billion available to the National Revenue Fund, R250-billion of the GFECRA funds will be employed, with R100-billion to be directed towards the SARB to cover interest-rate sterilisation costs that will arise as a result of increased liquidity.

SARB governor Lesetja Kganyago described it as a complex arrangement that had arisen following intense conversations between the central bank and the National Treasury, and stressed that it was not cost-free, as could be seen by the R100-billion set aside for the SARB over the medium term.

The proposed settlement agreement between the National Treasury and the SARB, meanwhile, would also establish a new framework for the treatment of the GFECRA, which the National Treasury insisted would continue to protect the bank and was in line with "peer norms".

The Budget Review indicates that framework will allocate valuation gains across three "buckets", with the first bucket retaining sufficient funds to absorb exchange rate swings.

"Once this arrangement has been fulfilled, funds will be distributed to the second bucket, a Reserve Bank contingency reserve, to ensure the central bank's solvency and to pay sterilisation costs to neutralise the interest-rate impact.

"Once the first two obligations have been settled, funds will be distributed to the National Treasury," the Budget Review states.

NEW FRAMEWORK

The reform is guided by principles developed in consultation between the National Treasury, the SARB and international experts, including that any GFECRA distributions be governed by a clear and transparent framework that prevents ad hoc drawdowns, as well as that the proc...

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JSE-listed Aveng, which recently relocated is management epicentre to Australia and changed its reporting currency from South African rands to Australian dollars, has no immediate intention of listing in Australia but acknowledges that such a move is possible in future.

Incoming CEO Scott Cummins, the Australian civil engineer who succeeds South African Sean Flanagan on March 1, reiterated that governance and control of Aveng will continue to be in South Africa, where it will remain listed on the JSE.

However, CFO Adrian Macartney, who is relocating to Melbourne to participate in the group's newly assembled executive structure, confirmed during a results presentation that the group had been assessing a diversification of its sources of capital for some time and that an Australian listing could, thus, represent a "natural home".

He stressed that such a move was not imminent, and that no thought had yet been given to whether it would be a primary listing or a dual listing.

The decision to change the reporting currency from rands to Australian dollars, he added, was not a precursor to a change in domicile, but rather a reflection of the fact that 91% of the group's revenue was sourced from outside South Africa.

In addition, there were factors to consider - from tax to market recognition and receptiveness - before any listing decision could be taken.

Cummins stressed that his immediate priority was to focus the group's infrastructure, building and contract mining brands of McConnell Dowell, Built Environs and Moolmans respectively on pursuing higher margins rather than revenue.

"One hundred percent of my focus, and that of my executive team, is on improving the week-in, week-out performance of all of our business units, where we want to raise the margin percentage that we report to the market every six months," he said, while indicating that a listing in Australia could only be considered once a positive track-record had been firmly established.

In the interim period to the end of December, the group's order book fell to A$3.6-billion (R44.5-billion) from A$4.2-billion (R52.2-billion) in June 2023. Headline earnings rose 74% to A$11.3-million (R137-million), from A$6.5-million (R77-million) in December 2022.

He acknowledged the prevailing difficult trading conditions for mining in South Africa but insisted that the Moolmans fleet renewal programme would remain a priority, alongside efforts to diversify the company's client, commodity and geographic profile.

Moolmans would remain focused on surface-mining but was keen to diversify away from the current dominance of manganese in its portfolio to include other commodities such as gold and uranium, with prospects in Namibia and West Africa being actively pursued.

While transport infrastructure-related work was tapering somewhat in Australia, McConnell Dowell was moving to occupy a niche position in the growing market for new energy, including the conversion of gold mines into pumped-hydro schemes.

Cummins indicated that McConnell Dowell would seek to consolidate its pioneering position in the pumped-hydro sector, while pursuing aspects of the broader renewable-energy construction market, such as the building of near-shore structures for offshore wind farms.

Its Built Environs business, meanwhile, would continue to position itself for hospital construction work, given the relative complexity of such projects when compared with to the general building market.

There was no intention, however, to re-enter the South African infrastructure and building markets, which Aveng exited when it sold Grinaker-LTA in 2019.

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A legal dispute over the granting of an environmental authorisation for a 5-km new road, the K148, in southern Gauteng has the potential to highlight serious legal impediments to the development of any new road in the increasingly traffic-congested province.

This, owing to an alleged misalignment between provisions in the Gauteng Transport and Infrastructure Act (GTIA) and prevailing environmental legislation, as well as the reality of progressive encroachment of illegal settlements on to land "frozen" by the Act for future roads.

Scheduled to be heard in the Gauteng High Court between February 26 and 29, the case appears to be a simple dispute over the granting in December 2016 of an environmental approval for the K148 by the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (GDARD).

The application has been brought by property company NT55 Investments and Francois Nortje, which together argue that the environmental impact assessment (EIA) should be reviewed and set aside for several reasons, including the fact that the proposed route traverses a sensitive floodplain and ignores the existence of a Transnet fuel pipeline.

However, the applicants will now also argue that the approval flouts Section 9 of the GTIA, which disallows any application for an environmental authorisation in an area where a preliminary design was in place when the provincial legislation was passed in 2001 and later amended in 2003.

A "freezing" of the preliminary designs was implemented to prevent any rezoning of the low-value farmland, owing to a view that significant upward revaluation of the land triggered by rezoning could make it unaffordable for the province to build new roads.

However, the applicants in the K148 case will argue that the legislation also prevents all manner of activities in instances where a preliminary design has been approved, including preventing the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport from pursuing an EIA to build a road on such land.

Nortje himself ran into these restrictions when seeking to obtain permission for a proposed solar project on farmland in Gauteng that had been frozen in line with the GTIA.

"I had a detailed look at the prohibition clause in the Act to see if solar farms can be established on this land, that is when I realised that no EIA can be granted on such land after a preliminary design has been Gazetted," he explains.

This observation has potentially strengthened Nortje's legal argument in his ongoing dispute with GDARD over the K148. The broader implications are potentially dire, however, especially for the development of much-needed new roads in South Africa's most populous province.

Nortje notes that hundreds of preliminary designs developed by the old Transvaal Provincial Authority, covering about 2 500 km of potential roads, have been frozen since the enactment of the GTIA, which the Constitutional Court confirmed as valid in 2009.

"The effect is that thousands of hectares of land are now basically worthless and will stay worthless except if this Act is challenged successfully," Nortje asserts, noting that in the intervening period many affected landowners abandoned large tracks of this land earmarked for future roads, which opened the way for illegal dwellings.

"The PWV 13 and 14 alone have at least 10 000 shacks on their preliminary design.

"These two roads are meant to bypass the congested Giloolys interchange," he notes.

Nortje questions whether it is currently feasible to build any new road in Gauteng, which would be a blow to Premier Panyaza Lesufi's State of the Province Address commitment to the creation of "efficient road systems that connect people with economic nodes, tourism centres and other provinces".

He also questions the rationality of legislation that freezes a preliminary design over the full length of the road th...