Question NW2503 to the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy
13 November 2020 - NW2503
Boshoff, Dr WJ to ask the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy
(1)Whether, with reference to the report of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research which indicates that the Republic faces load shedding for at least the next 18 months unless the Government and Eskom make the decision this year to bring the cheapest and most reliable energy on to the grid within the next three years, and Government’s approval that consumers may generate their own renewable energy, he will consider the possibility of allowing access by default to the national power grid so as to allow private instances who generate renewable energy, to be in a position to load surplus energy onto the national power grid, subject to the required safety conditions; if not, why not; if so, what are the further relevant details; (2) whether he will make a statement on the matter?
Reply:
1. In line with similar prognosis on supply and demand, the IRP2019 recognises that there is risk of load shedding in the next 18 to 24 months.
It is for this reason that as one of the 9 (nine) decisions in the IRP2019 we committed to the following:
Decision 1:Undertake a power purchase programme to assist with the acquisition of capacity needed to supplement Eskom’s declining plant performance and to reduce the extensive utilisation of diesel peaking generators in the immediate to medium term. Lead-time is therefore key.
Decision 2: Koeberg power plant design life must be extended by another 20 years by undertaking the necessary technical and regulatory work.
Decision 3: Support Eskom to comply with MES over time, taking into account the energy security imperative and the risk of adverse economic impact.
We in addition to these decisions made provision for distributed generation by allowing electrify consumers to generate their own electricity. We have in this regard taken following steps:
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- The department has enabled generation for own use by removing the licensing requirements for certain category of generation facilities under one megawatt (1 MW). 139 requests for registration have been processed by NERSA to date with capacity of 59. This capacity excludes installations under 1MW that register direct with local municipalities.
- The department has also eased the licensing of generation for own use above 1 MW which is mainly to supplement power supply to commercial and industrial customers including the mines. The IRP 2019 now makes provision for distributed generation for own use above 1MW, which takes away the need for a Ministerial approval for deviation from the IRP before NERSA can process a generation license application. 5 Licences have been issued to date. The Department has invited applicants experiencing challenges to engage DDG responsible for Programmes and Projects.
2. These initiatives have already beenpublicly pronounced.