Page 20 - Energize March 2021

NEWS

Wind energy industry celebrates new bid

window for renewable energy procurement

he South African Wind Energy
Association (SAWEA), together
Twith the broader renewable
power sector, are today celebrating the
Department of Mineral Resources and
Energy’s (DMRE) announcement to open a
new procurement round.
DMRE Minister, Gwede Mantashe,
announced the opening of Bid Window
5 of the Renewable Energy Independent
Power Producers Procurement Programme
(REIPPPP), which will procure a further
2 600MW of renewable energy from Ntombifuthi Ntuli
Independent Power Producers (IPPs). SABS_energize_03/2021
“The announcement by the Minister to in making that a reality,” added Ntuli.
open Bid Window 5, calling for proposals from Minister Mantashe simultaneously
IPPs, marks the rebirth of the wind energy announced the preferred bidders for the
industry, as the last bidding round took procurement of the 2000 MW Risk Mitigation
place almost seven years ago, in 2014,” said Independent Power Producer Procurement 75 Years of dedication
Ntombifuthi Ntuli, CEO of SAWEA. Programme (RMIPPPP), which SAWEA
The Energy minister has set a firm recognises as a significant move, as wind to Quality Compliance
closing date for the Bid Submission as and solar will now be able to play a role in
August 4, 2021. dispatchable power. SABS Appliances Laboratory is res-
Addressing energy stakeholders in Two of the eight preferred bidders in ponsible for testing of various house-
Johannesburg today, Thursday 18 March RMIPPPP include wind power IPP’s in the hold appliances within the test scope
2021, Minister Mantashe said the auction, form of hybrid projects. These projects of VC 8055 Regulation.
which aims to procure 1.6 GW of wind energy, incorporate wind, solar and storage
is in line with the gazetted IRP2019. technology on a utility scale, which is a first
The wind energy industry is dependent for South Africa. SABS Appliances is an accredited test
on policy tones set by government. The SAWEA has noted that this is a massive facility to test geysers to the
Association has noted and is grateful to advantage for the country, as hybrid projects requirements of both VC8055 and
the various government departments, for enhance the reliability and stabilization of VC9006. Compulsory Specification for
implementing policies over the last two years. the power generation system. Plus, they do Hot Water Storage Tanks for
The wind sector sees these changes, which not always require grid expansion, as hybrid Domestic Use. These appliances have
are closing policy gaps, as a clear direction grids produce power at different intervals
in terms of plans to procure new generation and during complementary seasons. to comply with SANS/IEC 60335-1
capacity on an ongoing basis, in line with the The advantage of hybrid systems, when and SANS IEC 60335-2-21.
energy roadmap, which sees 14.4 GW of new incorporated with storage, is that the power
wind power over the next decade. is ‘dispatchable’. So, when the wind or solar The current setup has introduced full
This procurement window will add vitally systems are not generating power, hybrid test automation of tests that are
needed power capacity to the country, which systems provide power through batteries. performed on the test bench in both
continues to struggle with strangled energy Whilst the battery capacity needs to be
supply, an ongoing crisis that is economically large enough to supply electricity during SANS 60335-2-21 and SANS 151 test
crippling and has seen South Africa buckling non-charging hours, when they run low, standards.
under the strain of load shedding for the last the generating plant can provide power to
few years. recharge the batteries. SABS Lab improvements will reduce
“With supporting policy and smooth “An advantage of renewable energy the test duration by about 50%.
procurement rounds, expected to include the hybrid systems lies in their ability to combine
announcement of Bid Window 6 during the two of the fastest growing renewable energy Book your Lab
course of 2021 as reiterated by the Minister technologies. Hybrid systems can also take
today, the renewable power sector certainly advantage of the complementary nature of appointment
has a key role to play in re-building the solar PV, which produces power during the NOW
country as a significant catalyst of economic day, and wind, which produces most of its 0861 277 227
growth, and investors have a big role to play power at night,” concluded Ntuli. n
info@sabs.co.za
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