RE: Coming together14 May 2019 17:09
This bit was cut off jogj99 post
Radebe lamented the dismal state of Eskom, which was marked by a deteriorating Eskom plant performance propelled by old generation infrastructure. He said Eskom needed more investment in new generation capacity to replace old power plants.
“The draft IRP confirms that the decade starting in 2030 will require significant commissioning of new generation capacity. This happens at a time when Eskom’s balance sheet is at its weakest in a long time.
“We need to arrest the steady decline in economic activity coupled with rising electricity tariffs that has tended to put Eskom in an untenable situation, characterised by increasing debt and increasing tariffs. We need to address these issues so as to build infrastructure timeously to meet the energy demands required for our industrialisation.”
On the local municipality front, Radebe said many municipalities in South Africa were increasingly keen to generate their own power. So far, residents have installed about 150 MW of rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems in various municipalities. “As Eskom electricity tariffs rise, we can expect more rooftop PV systems to be installed,” said Radebe.
The Minister said the government had developed a framework in terms of Schedule 2 of the Electricity Regulation Act, to enable embedded generation technology options. The National Energy Regulator of South Africa has called for public comment on this.
“The Schedule 2 amendments will address the constraints related to licensing potentially hundreds of thousands of rooftop PV systems, biogas and other small-scale embedded generators smaller than 1 MW, and unlock investment in that space,” Radebe told delegates.
He added that small-scale embedded generation through biomass, biogas and municipal waste held great potential for improving municipal revenues. “We expect to see increasing investment in that space.”
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