RE: Renewable Energy SA News11 Feb 2020 16:46
Engineering News has not yet been able to confirm the number of submissions made ahead of the RFI deadline of January 31, nor what solutions have been proposed. It is understood, however, that the DMRE received a strong response, with hundreds of potential bidders having descended on the Centurion headquarters of the Independent Power Producer Office at the end of January to hand-deliver their proposals.
All DMRE would say officially was that “the team is still processing the information received” and that a statement would be issued once all inputs had been processed. In January, the DMRE indicated that its evaluation could endure until the end of February, after which a procurement programme or programmes could be launched.
However, there is growing frustration, as reflected by the Busa statement, with the fact that the IRP 2019 is not being implemented in parallel with the emergency programme.
Both the South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) and South African Photovoltaic Industry Association (SAPVIA) reported in late January that their members had projects that could be implemented on an accelerated basis and in line with the allocations included in the IRP 2019.
To unlock this investment, SAWEA and SAPVIA argued that the fifth bidding round of the REIPPPP should be launched in parallel with the emergency programme, given both the crisis and that previous bidding rounds have typically required between 18 and 24 months to complete.
Lead times could be compressed in the next bidding round, owing to the fact that some 90 projects had already been identified in 2015 under the ironically named ‘expedited round’ – that round eventually expired after years of delay, precipitated by Eskom’s refusals to enter into new power purchase agreements with independent power producers.
Busa also used its statement to call on Ramaphosa to outline a clear government stance on the crises afflicting many State-owned enterprises (SOEs), including electricity utility Eskom.
Busa urged the President to take a clear position on Eskom in his SoNA, including the urgent appointment of “a capable and independent board”.
“The board and CEO must be tasked with addressing the governance, management, staffing and other operational crises at Eskom, positioning Eskom to be a player in a more diversified energy supply industry, as well as looking at options to address the funding crisis,” Busa said.
It made no direct reference, however, to a Congress of South African Trade Unions' (Cosatu's) proposal to reduce Eskom’s debt from R450-billion to R200-billion through a special purpose vehicle involving workers’ pensions, government, business and development finance institutions.
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