Page 41 - Energize July 2022

VIEWS AND OPINION

• delays in the rollout of the gas-to-power procurement programme (REIPPP) Role of government
• delays in the rollout of the new coal-fired power procurements, which may in fact never The envisaged role of government (or a
materialise National Command Council empowered by
• delays in the rollout of the energy storage procurement programme (REIPPP) government) would be to use its executive
• general consensus that the imported hydro power from the DRC is not possible by 2030 authority and powers to remove any policy,
• the possibility of nuclear power being forced into the mix to relpace hydro power from the regulatory, planning and execution issues
DRC arising in the course of the national priority
• the rapid uptake of distributed, embedded and self-generation, wheeling and trading of project that would otherwise impede the
electricity progress to end loadshedding in two years.
• the planned procurement of electricity from IPPs by municipal metros It is further envisaged that the role
of government (or a National Command
Continuing with the current IRP 2019 generation capacity planning process without Council, or a government agency such as
intervention therefore poses massive risks to continuity of supply in South Africa, with a the CSIR) will be to monitor the progress
resulting high likelihood of significantly increasing load shedding in the years ahead. and performance of the various customer
Similarly, requirements for Section 34 ministerial determinations, concurrence of NERSA categories in securing the new capacity
with Section 34 determinations, and the need to obtain ministerial approval for any deviations deliverables of the national priority project,
from IRP 2019, is considered inappropriate for dealing with the current emergency. as well as monitoring the reduction in load
shedding so achieved.
A new plan Finally, government (or a national
In his recent budget vote, President Ramaphosa announced that that IRP 2019 would be Command Council empowered by
updated, and this was subsequently repeated by the DMRE minister, although no details or government) should not only enable this
timelines were publicly provided. national priority project by moving any
But it is clear that the process used to produce a new IRP will take too long to adequately inhibiting policy, regulatory, planning and
address the short and the medium-term holes in the IRP 2019. Questions are also being raised execution issues arising out of the way, but
by energy thought leaders as to the very purpose, value and need for a prescriptive IRP (as should actively encourage and incentivize
opposed to an indicative, non-binding IRP) in the current uncertain energy environment and customers of electricity to be part of the
associated developments both globally and locally. solution through appropriate messaging,
In light of the urgency and increased load shedding that will result from the short and tax breaks, feed-in tariffs, and other
medium-term holes in IRP 2019, and the time needed to prepare and promulgate a new IRP, it innovative incentives.
is suggested that the prescriptive aspects of IRP 2019, Section 34 determinations, ministerial
authorisation to deviate from the IRP and the 100 MW generation licence threshold should be Role of Eskom
suspended, at least while the current emergency is being addressed. Firstly, it will be the task of Eskom to procure
its specific allocation of additional wind, solar
Stakeholder engagement challenges PV and energy storage capacity (see above) in
A significant challenge will be the stakeholder engagement needed to achieve the green light terms of this national priority project.
for the proposed national priority project quickly, as well as ongoing stakeholder engagement, In addition, Eskom will be required to
management and coordination, to ensure all parties are aligned and working together with a coordinate across the country to ensure
common vision in a solution-oriented approach. and provide network access for that
In particular, the challenge of obtaining the necessary buy-in and commitment from portion of the total of 10 GW of wind
government, Eskom, municipalities, financiers and customers of electricity should not be and solar PV and 5 GW of energy storage
underestimated, as these stakeholders are often pulling in different directions, resulting in endless capacity envisaged to be connected to the
discussions and talk, without coming up with the necessary specific deliverables and actions. Eskom network by IPPs and Eskom’s direct
customers of electricity.
Engineering and logistical challenges Finally, the role of Eskom would
This national priority project also represents a significant engineering, procurement, be to facilitate and enable wheeling of
logistic and execution challenge, requiring coordination and commitment from a number of power across its network in bilateral and
stakeholders (government, NERSA, Eskom, municipal metros, financiers and customers). trading arrangements between embedded
However, past experience has shown that with the necessary national commitment and generators and customers of electricity.
support by stakeholders, such challenges can be overcome in a solution orientated approach.
For example, one of the significant challenges will be to ensure grid access to Eskom and Role of municipal metros
municipal networks for the 15 GW of new capacity proposed. Similarly, it will be the task of municipal
However, Eskom has confirmed that despite grid access constraints in some geographic metros to procure their specific allocations
areas of South Africa (such as Northern Cape), there is at this time some 32 GW of grid access of additional wind, solar PV and energy
capacity available across South Africa for distributed, embedded generation, which, with the storage capacity (see above) in terms of this
necessary coordination, is more than adequate. national priority project.

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