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1. Eskom has not transferred any areas of supply to the City of Cape Town. The Eskom position remains that it is not in its best interest to transfer or sell any assets due to the operational requirements of the Eskom business.

2. Eskom does not support the handing over of the responsibility for the reticulation of electricity to the City of Cape Town in the Eskom-serviced areas of Cape Town. The handing over of the areas of supply was not supported by the internal governance structures of Eskom.

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(a) The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy plans to include Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) as part of its broader nuclear energy strategy. In 2020 the Department went out to test the market to look for information for both conventional Pressurized Water Reactors and Small Modular Reactors. The Department has further developed a draft Strategy and Position Paper based on the outcomes of the Request for Information (RFI) to implement the 2500 MW nuclear new building programme taking into consideration various options for SMR development. These are still internal documents for consultation with impacted stakeholders prior to their wide publication. The outcome for the consultations will inform the plan of the Republic for building its own Small Modular Reactor.

(b) The intention is to have the SMRs form part of the country's energy mix, which currently includes a significant proportion of coal fired power plants, mainly in Mpumalanga.

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The Electricity Pricing Policy is currently undergoing a review. The review outcomes will guide the department on measures and steps to be taken to mitigate the effects of rising living cost and escalating electricity rates throughout the country. Moreover, the review findings will also inform the review of the Free Basic Electricity programme which is intended to help local authorities provided basic services to low-income household.
 

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Loadshedding is a last resort to protect the grid from a blackout when the supply cannot meet the demand. The end of sustained loadshedding requires adequate available generation capacity. Eskom has already seen the benefits of the Generation Recovery Plan with having no loadshedding since 26 March 2024 and Eskom will continue to drive this plan to further improve the availability of its generation fleet to an Energy Availability Factor of 70%. Together with an increase in national capacity through Independent Power Producers and Eskom’s Repowering and Repurposing Programme, and through the Energy Action Plan, driven by the National Energy Crisis Committee (NECOM), regular loadshedding will be a thing of the past.

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(a) Electricity theft and vandalism of infrastructure remain a huge concern in Eskom. Offenders continue to connect illegally on the network, bypassing meters, and tampering with electricity infrastructure, causing transformers to overload and explode. Eskom runs various awareness campaigns and educates its customers on different platforms about the consequences of electricity theft and the effects of infrastructure vandalism.

Eskom remains committed to replacing these vandalised assets after investigations and audits are conducted and encourages communities to safeguard these assets and report acts of vandalism and theft of infrastructure.

Further to combat theft and vandalism, Eskom frequently executes disconnections of tampered and illegally connected infrastructure. Eskom also conducts electricity meter audits and repairs where required. The rollout of smart meters is also ongoing and is part of the mitigation strategy. Eskom actively engages with law enforcement agencies and police when conducting audits on meters and electricity vending. There have been several arrests of individuals behind these kinds of wrongdoing.

(b) The success behind these interventions is premised on community cooperation in allowing Eskom teams to construct and repair without any disturbances, promoting the legal use of electricity and eradicating theft and vandalism within communities. There have been successful community cooperatives where Eskom worked with the communities and illegal activities were brought to the fore and collaboratively addressed. Eskom continues to be intentional and engages communities serviced because they are the ones affected by these criminal activities. Eskom urges communities to come on board to assist Eskom with ending electricity theft and vandalism.

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Since the beginning of this year, Eskom’s plant availability has been trending upwards, supported by decrease in unplanned losses. Generation has been able to maintain the unplanned losses below -14 000 MW throughout the winter period, while leveraging the improved performance to conduct additional short-term Planned Capacity Loss Factor (PCLF).

The Generation fleet is showing more reliable performance going into the summer of 2024 commensurate to 2023. All indication suggest that this performance trajectory is sustainable. We continue to drive efforts to complement the coal fleet with new generation capacity in line with the IRP, including conversion of the Open Cycle Gas Turbine (OCGT) from Diesel to Gas and from open to close cycle operating systems.

 

 

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The acquisition and replacement of official vehicles for the Minister is administered by the 2019 Ministerial Handbook which provides in paragraph 2.1 read together with 2.3, that National Members shall be provided with one vehicle for official use in each seat of office and that on assumption of office must make use of officials vehicles already purchased by the Department, unless such vehicle is to be replaced in terms of paragraph 2.9 of this chapter.

The Ministry was established after the 2023/24 budget allocation therefore no capital expropriation was made for the purchasing of the official vehicle, similarly in the 2023/24 budget adjustment. In light of the above, the Ministry has been renting the Minister’s vehicle on a monthly contract for his transportation in Gauteng and on ad hoc basis for travel outside of the province.

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1.(a) The donation from the People’s Republic of China to the Republic of South Africa was done in terms of a technical assistance agreement. The value R1 393 602 was charged as part of Eskom’s deferred group tax and this will be claimed back from SARS in due course.

(b)(i)(ii)(iii)-(c) The transportation of the emergency equipment was undertaken by Eskom, consequently, the Ministry did not appoint a service provider for the transportation and delivery of the emergency equipment, as a result no costs accrued.

2. (a) The South African Government did not incur any costs regarding the facilitation of the Chinese technical personnel

(b)(i)-(ii) The South African Government did not incur any costs regarding overdue storage, truck and container detention fees.

 

Reply:

The Ministry was established in March 2023 and we can categorically confirm that neither the Minister, his Office nor his officials have received any sponsorships, donations and financial transfers provided for lawfare and/or any other purposes until the date of the submission of this reply.

 

 

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The Ministry was established in March 2023, accordingly we advise that you refer the question to the Departmet of Public Enterprises as the legal manadte holder in this regard.

 

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In contextualising the Energy Availability Factor (EAF), one needs to understand the following equation:

EAF=100% Generation Available Capacity-% Unplanned Capability Load Factor (UCLF)-% Planned Capability Load Factor (PCLF) -% Other Capability Load Factor (OCLF).This means that the EAF is dependent on three variables, namely, Planned maintenance, Unplanned Outages as well as other outages. When either of these variables changes, the EAF is impacted negatively or positively depending on whether the variables increase or decrease respectively.

The EAF shown below depicts our performance over the past eight (8) years and also reflects the improvement when comparing January 2023 and January 2024. From January 2023 to January 2024, the unplanned outages have been decreasing as depicted on the graph below. In January 2023, UCLF was at 34% but it was 30% in January 2024. Other outages also saw a declining trend.  These other outages are unpredictable and outside management's control.

On the other hand, planned maintenance increased from September 2023 to December 2023 and January 2024. These outages are within management control in terms of whether to implement them or not and are essential for safety, statutory and performance improvement reasons. It does, however, mean that as planned maintenance necessarily increases, then EAF decreases. For example, planned maintenance was at 17.6% in January 2024 vs 13.5% in January 2023

(b) (i) The Eskom Board has approved the Generation plant recovery programme which details actions per power station that are in alignment with the President’s statement made during SONA.

(ii) Government has implemented the Energy Action Plan which also looks at energy crisis or resolutions. This runs at a government level and involves private business.

 

Reply:

1. The respective facilities have requested to install, secure, operate and maintain the allocated units and furthermore these facilities were requested to record the generators in their individual asset register.

2. The individual facilities are responsible for the operational budget of the generators

3. Procurement of fuel will be done through the regular procurement process of the respect facilities

4. Please refer to answer above

 

 

Reply:

(a) The government’s strategic plan on energy procurement is codified in the 2023 draft IRP which has been released for public participation and comments.

(b) The IRP sets the strategic plan which includes the optimal energy mix to achieve our energy security objectives with due regard to our energy resource endowments

(c) The energy action plan sets out short and medium interventions measures to balance the energy supply and demand which includes interventions to;

(i) Strengthen and/or repurpose the existing Eskom fleet including gas to energy on both open and close cycle gas turbines,

(ii) Optimize the uptake of private renewable energy investment both through renewable energy independent producer programme, embedded generation programmes and commercial/domestic rooftop solar solutions

(iii) Modernize and expand the transmission infrastructure

(iv) All procurement will be done in line with section 217(1) and (2) of the constitution

(v) refer to reply above

(2) Based on the 2019 IRP government will in 2024 will commence the procurement of:

(i) 2500MW nuclear energy

(ii) The conversion of Gourikwa and Ankerlig to gas from diesel/open gas turbine OCGT which will yield 2000MW and a further 1000MW conversion into Closed Cycle Gas Turbine OCGT

(iii) An additional 3000MW is approved in Richards Bay

Eskom will rollout plans for the development of solar PV coupled with battery energy storage systems which will yield 4000MW.

 

 

Reply:

The Ministry/Minister was appointed to oversee and direct the implementation of the Energy Action Plan, with its 5-outcome areas. As such, the focus of NECOM has been on strengthening/stabilising generation, enabling the fast tracking of new generation including addressing legislative bottle necks, and accelerating the scale and pace of implementation of renewable energy projects, as well as upscaling rooftop solar/embedded generation projects, and transforming the energy landscape through transformation of the energy sector, consequently, the Ministry has not kept the records of the financial and economic impact (since its establishment) associated with cable theft and/or sabotage of transformer.

2. Further, incidences of this nature are observed across Eskom distribution, Transmission and the Municipalities and as such the Ministry does not maintain a outage/response and repair log. This information will have to be sourced from (Eskom Distribution), through the Department of Public Enterprises or the respect Municipality (in municipal licensed areas)

Reply:

The Ministry/Minister was appointed to oversee and direct the implementation of the Energy Action Plan, with 5-outcome areas. As such, the focus of NECOM has been on strengthening/stabilising generation, enabling the fast tracking of new generation including addressing legislative bottle necks, and accelerating the scale and pace of implementation of renewable energy projects, as well as upscaling rooftop solar/embedded generation projects, and transforming the energy landscape through transformation of the energy sector.

Whilst the deployment of smart meters is an important intervention (in particular to implement demand side management), it has not been a core focus the Ministry work. The level of the question is also largely operational, and assumes a national deployment of smart meters, whereas, smart meters will be deployed by respect distribution licence holders (Eskom and Municipalities). In respect of ESKOM the Department of Public Enterprises remains the shareholder department, to whom the Board of Eskom Holdings is accountable in terms of the Memorandum of Incorporation for strategic outcomes. As such, the question should either be directed to DPE (for Eskom supply distribution area) and the respective Municipalities and or COGTA for Municipal distribution areas

Reply:

(1) (a) Yes, Eskom has determined the total cost of implementing smart meters.

(b) Eskom has a financial evaluation model that is used for all its projects and the same model was used to evaluate the financial viability of the various

phases of the smart metering project.

(2) Eskom does not have a designated installer as multiple contractors are appointed to install meters in various regions each time a project is initiated. For projects like this where a large number of meters are to be installed at one go (as a project), an open Request for Proposals (RFP) for potential installers is issued to the market and successful bidders are awarded tenders to install meters in various areas.

(3) Eskom started installing smart meters in 2010 when a pilot project was commissioned in Sandton (Gauteng) and Margate (KZN) for 5000 meters.

This was followed by Phase 1 of the project that was implemented in Sandton/Midrand in 2015, where about 33 000 smart meters were installed.

A decision was taken in June 2021 to only use smart meters going forward and as such, all faulty meters are now replaced by smart meters.

There is no official commencement date yet for a project to replace all meters with smart meters as the project is still going through internal

governance processes and an RFP still has to be issued to the market.

 

 

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(a)-(b) We confirm that neither the Minister nor official(s) in his Office attended the Rugby World Cup final in France in October 2023.

(i)-(ii)-(iii)_(aa)-(bb) & (cc) please refer to the reply for (a) & (b)

Reply:

(1) Transmission owns and operates over 33 245 circuit kilometres of power lines, and regularly conducts asset health reviews on all its infrastructure, including the power lines, using international benchmark standards. Our last power lines condition assessment report was published in 2021 (the next revision is due in March 2024). The response below applies to the 2023/24 financial year:

(a) Transmission’s asset management approach prescribes that power lines do not generally reach life expectancy to the extent that they must be completely rebuilt. It is the transmission line components that reach the end of life and that are replaced. This applies to conductors, insulators, towers (steelworks), foundations and hardware. Therefore, individual parts are assessed for their performance and risk, and replaced or refurbished as needed.

Only when critical structural components such as foundations and/or tower member steel are condemned would an entire power line be deemed to have reached its expected life. A refurbishment or replacement project for such a power line would then be initiated.

(b)Same response as above.

(c) Projects are classified into two groups: Projects to address the end-of-life components, and projects to address the performance of lines.

• End of life component: 23 lines, 1 105 circuit kilometres are currently being worked on with a total value of R523 million.
• Performance: 28 lines, 2 358 circuit kilometres are currently being worked on (majority is bird guards in hotspot areas), total value R129 million.

More projects are planned for future years as Transmission continuously reviews the status of its transmission lines.

 

 

Reply:

1. To encourage the uptake of rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV), the government eased private generator regulation giving customers more private generation energy options through across-network wheeling and on-site self-generation. This year, the government introduced further incentives like SARS tax rebates and National Treasury energy bounce loan guarantee programmes making Roof Top PV systems more affordable to households and small businesses. This is against the backdrop of customers seeking reliability during loadshedding, affordable electricity and climate change objectives.

To make rooftop PV more attractive, in the same way that Eskom does, many municipalities also offer grid services like net-billing (i.e. using PV surplus energy to offset billed consumption), and

wheeling (i.e., using the grid to transport generator production to customers). In addition, work is being done through the National Energy Crisis Committee (NECOM) on the development of a feed-in tariff (i.e., the utility buying customer surplus PV energy) which also encourages uptake.  Eskom also has a standard offer programme in place where customers can sell excess energy to Eskom under a short-term power purchase agreement.  Under the NECOM draft, frameworks were developed on net billing and wheeling to guide the industry with a standardised approach. These two draft frameworks are currently with the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA).

2. The National Treasury is the custodian of the incentive and have not expressed any indication of whether the scheme will be extended. There is however an ongoing discussion on the expansion of scheme (coverage as opposed to time-line), to the extent that it be expanded to include the battery and inverter which are the largest cost components of roof top solar solutions.

3. With regard to Municipalities the determination of tariffs and fees is a function of municipal budgeting, as provided for by the Municipal Finance Management Act, and as such the legislative competence of the respective Municipal Council, subject to due process. Under these circumstances whilst the fees may be a counter-incentive to upscaling rooftop solar/embedded generation, the Minister cannot “stop” legitimate fees imposed by Municipalities. There is also a question of municipal revenue loss (which impact the viability of Municipalities), in the context of self generation. These are broader consideration in respect of division of revenue across government, and must be addressed through the structures of Government in the context of the strategic approach to the energy distribution sector.

In respect of Eskom, only grid-tied solar PV solar systems on the Eskom networks require Eskom permission even if they are not exporting their surplus on the Eskom network. Such grid-tied customers will be liable for upfront costs for quotation, and connections (including bi-directional time-of-use meters where required). It should be noted, if a customer is off-grid, this means there is no connection and therefore no charges will be raised by Eskom.  A customer that has grid-tied generation and uses the system as a backup must pay network fair charges for this backup.

 

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Annexure

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Reply:

1. Steynsburg Town and the surrounding farming areas are fed from the Bulhoek Steynsburg 22kV overhead power line. This is an Eskom Eastern Cape electricity network. This network is 205 km in length and is maintained yearly by Eskom.

Eskom is aware of a couple of prolonged power line faults in the area in the last year up to now. The inspections and defects clearing described above are part of a mitigation strategy which is aimed at reducing such incidents.

Power line inspections are carried out yearly and defects picked up are cleared by Eskom maintenance teams. The next maintenance event emanating from this year’s already-completed power line inspections for the power line supplying the Steynsburg area is planned for February 2024.

2. Venterstad, Oviston Town and the surrounding farming areas are fed from Badsfontein Venterstad's 11kV overhead power line. This is an Eskom Northern Cape electricity network. This network is 139.92 km in length and is maintained yearly by Eskom.

The inspections are carried out annually and defects picked up are cleared by Eskom maintenance teams. Eskom is aware of thirteen (13) power line faults in the area thus far this year.

Five (5) of the thirteen (13) line faults affecting the Venterstad and Oviston areas are considered long-duration faults with the longest lasting for two days. Inspections of the power line have been completed and next the planned maintenance event for the power line supplying the Venterstad and Oviston areas is scheduled for 22 February 2024.

3. The inspections and defects clearing described above are part of a mitigation strategy which is aimed at reducing such incidents. It is in our interest to make sure we provide the customers in these areas with reliable power supply taking into consideration their farming, commercial and residential activities

 

Reply:

(1)-(2) (1)-(2) We have received an offer of between 80-100 megawatts from Mozambique, Eskom is ceased with processing the power purchase agreement in terms of the current Ministerial determination for cross-broader purchases. Eskom has since issued the Standard Offer Cross Border Programme (CBSOP), in terms of which the Mozambique offer will have to be processed.

The CBSOP enables Eskom to procure energy on a short-term basis (less than three years) from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. This standard offer approach permits Eskom to purchase cross-border energy at an established price calculated at the avoided cost of Eskom’s own generation (including long-term energy purchases from local independent power producers). The standard offer allows for a static price, which is established each year based on the regulatory-approved cost recovery mechanism, and benchmarks the variable cost of local generation. This programme is designed to simplify the procurement of energy from existing and new facilities in the region.

Once the applicable governance processes have been concluded, the Ministry will make the necessary pronouncement.

 

Reply:

Cabinet approved the JET implementation plan, which will guide South Africa’s transition to low carbon economy through the scaling up of renewable energy sources. Three priority areas to support the economy of the future has been identified, being, electricity sector, New Energy Vehicles (NEV) and Green Hydrogen. The Investment Plan supports South Africa’s goal of achieving a low carbon economy and a climate resilient society through the following interventions

1. Creating quality jobs in new sectors like electric vehicles, green hydrogen, renewable energy, and manufacturing
2. Increasing our energy security and ending load shedding through a massive rollout of new, sustainable energy sources
3. Addressing the risks of climate change and positioning South Africa to be an important global player in the green economy of the future
4. Boosting economic growth through more than R1 trillion of new investment in the South African economy

The JET IP sets out a number of interventions South Africa needs and investments required the country to transition to a low carbon and climate resilient economy in line with the National Determined Contributions presented to the United Nations. The JET IP will be driven by a combination of reforms in the energy sector including the Mpumalanga Just Transition, New Energy Vehicles and Green Hydrogen, among others.

The plan further responds to South Africa’s commitments under the Paris Agreement and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change as well as NDP commitments. The Jet IP will enable South Africa to gradually meet its carbon emissions reduction commitments while at same time, it will ensure inclusive economic growth, energy security and employment.

The full extent of the JET IP is available on the following link, and Annexure B contains the – electricity sector modelling assumptions and technical analysis, and Eskom jet project pipeline

https://pccommissionflo.imgix.net/uploads/images/South-Africas-Just-Energy-Transition-Investment-Plan-JET-IP-2023-2027-FINAL.pdf

Reply:

1. (a/b) The draft IRP 2023 reviews the approved IRP 2019 and covers two-time horizons, namely the 2030 and 2050 time horizons. Several key assumptions used in the IRP 2019 have significantly changed, including the electricity demand projection, Eskom’s energy availability factor, Eskom’s coal fired power plants shutdown plan, as well as the cost of new power generation technologies.

The 2030-time horizon (Horizon One) focuses on addressing prevailing generation capacity constraints, whereas the 2031 – 2050 time horizon (Horizon 2) focuses on an analysis of the energy mix pathways for sustainable security of supply.

For Horizon One – five scenarios have been developed and assessed based on the state of readiness of projects in the pipeline. The scenarios considered include first the RMIPPPP, REIPPPP 5 and business projects currently under construction. Second, all project initiatives with commercial operation date (COD) and a specified location. Third, all project initiatives include those with no grid capacity reservation, COD, and specified location. Additionally, two scenarios, one comprising the reference case and current gas programme, and another based in improved plant performance according to the generation recovery plan have been modelled.

For Horizon 2, six energy pathways were considered to assess the impact of the different energy technologies in ensuring the country’s power system security of supply at the least cost to the economy. The reference pathway establishes a benchmark against other pathways and it is based on least cost. The five other pathways are based on certain guiding policy principles and they are designed to be exploratory in nature. These policy principles were formulated with a focus on decarbonising the power system, shutting down of existing coal-fired power stations post 2035, and exploring clean coal technologies including carbon capture.

Technology specific options (including geo-thermal / wave energy) will be enabled once the 2023 IRP has been through public participation process, based on the least cost principal.

2. NECOM, has 5 outcomes to address the immediacy of energy security and reducing the frequency of load shedding. As such, no specific funding has been considered for energy innovation. Never the less, the Department of Science and Innovation remains the custodians of the National research and innovation strategic path, in concert with the relevant line Departments.

The Department’s Technology Innovation programme plays a key role in developing a sustainable and globally competitive South African energy knowledge base and industry, especially in relation to the emerging global hydrogen economy, by informing and co-shaping the national energy policy in coordination with the Department of Energy and other key stakeholders.

Reply:

First, with respect, the assumptions or statements attributed to the Minister in the preamble to the question are a mis-representation of fact and or any comments that were made. In respect of Unplanned Capacity Loss Factor (UCLF), what was reported is that over a period of time, using the average May 2023 UCLF (17369 MW) as a baseline, unplanned outages averaged 15510 MW for September 2023. There was also no “intentional delay of scheduled maintenance” in fact, for Month of September 2023, planned maintenance improved to 4874 MW (compared to the May 2023 Baseline of 3120 MW.

As codified in the summer 2023 outlook, Eskom remained committed to increase the available generation, with a specific focus over the summer period, by:

1. Adding 2880MW¹ from Kusile units (2160MW from U1-3 recovery and 720MW from U5 Synchronisation)
2. Supporting the system with diesel burn at the open cycle gas turbines (OCGT)
3. The return to service of the Koeberg steam generator on the 3rd of November 2023 (which will be followed by planned upgrades on Koeburg Unit 2)
4. Demand side initiatives of almost 250 MW have been developed to contribute to reducing load shedding.

Reply:

Municipalities can purchase electricity from Independent Power Producers (IPP) through the Small Scale Embedded Generation Project, subject to section 217(1) of the Constitution, read with their respective Supply Chain Management Policies.

Further, Municipalities may apply to the Minister in the Presidency for Electricity under s34(1)(d) of the ELECTRICITY REGULATION ACT 4 OF 2006, as amended, for a determination that will enable a Municipality to purchase energy from an IPP.

Reply:

The supply of South Africa’s energy demand is broadly determined by the energy mix as set out in The Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) 2019. Based on the 2019 IRP, Coal constitutes 43% of installed capacity followed by Wind (22.53) Solar PV (10.5) CSP (0, 76) Nuclear (2,36) and Gas and Diesel (8.1) Hydro (5.84).

Whilst the IRP is currently being reviewed, Coal, Nuclear and Gas is expected to continue to be significant contributors to SA’s base load demand in the foreseeable future, with investments in cleaner technologies to mitigate negative environmental impacts, coupled with and battery storage to neutralise and solar/wind hybrid solutions to stabilise the intermittency challenges of renewables.

Reply:

a) The transmission losses are the difference between the total energy that came into the transmission network from the generating sources and the energy delivered to Transmission customers. These are purely technical losses incurred in the transportation of energy. In the 2022/23 financial year, the transmission losses were 4 700 GWh or 2.32%. There are meters at all transmission boundaries to ensure accurate accounting of energy flows. There are processes in place to ensure that this data is accurate, which include routine maintenance of meters and associated infrastructure, and data validation processes to identify errors.

The losses are affected by the generating pattern, as they are sensitive to the proximity between sources and loads. Independent power producers (IPPs) have an overall positive impact because of the way that they are distributed. The usage of open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs) has a positive impact as well. Network strengthening projects also have a positive impact on losses.

b) Maintenance and data verification processes are normal operational processes, so there are no additional costs.

Generation dispatch is done to optimise overall system energy costs. Network strengthening is done according to the Transmission Development Plan (TDP).

(c) Conductor theft is one of the primary security threats that face the Eskom network and critical infrastructure. Transmission Security has embedded a strategy to reduce network theft by dealing with the product (precious metals), the market (scrap metal dealers), and the thief (crime syndicates).

The following security operations have been initiated:

• Weekly operations meetings are held with the South African Police Service (SAPS) to visit illegal and legal scrap metal dealers to enforce the Second-Hand Goods Act. Fines are issued to non-compliant vendors, and illegal vendors are arrested. The operations deter the illegal purchase of Eskom material.
• A specialised investigation contract has been procured to deal with high-profile cases and organised crime.
• Transmission incident management is conducted via the Mission Area Joint Operation Centre (MAJOC SAPS) to ensure that all reported criminal cases that affect Transmission critical infrastructure receive immediate attention.
• Technology (vibration sensors) is being rolled out on high-risk lines for early warning, as well as improved security systems at high-risk substations, to ensure deterrence, detection, delay, and response.

Reply:

1. (a) It is estimated that more than R390 billion will be required over the next decade to meet the demand for grid capacity, largely due to the increase in generation capacity through renewable energy projects and insufficient grid capacity following the various Bid Windows.

Eskom’s current financial position places significant limitations on its ability to attract sufficient capital towards expanding the transmission grid, with the delivery of transmission infrastructure taking, on average, between 7 to 10 years. It is estimated this delivery rate needs to be scaled-up by eight times to connect the energy generation required for energy security by 2030.

It is anticipated that the transmission gridbuild rate needs to increase from 300km to 2300km per year with a greater rate of investment and delivery required through to 2050.

The Ministry in the Presidency for Electricity co-hosted a Transmission Financing Seminar with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and is currently finalising a cabinet submission on transmission financing pathways aimed at fast-tracking transmission infrastructure investments to support the anticipated growth in generation capacity and secure long-term energy security.

1 (b) The generation supply gap will be addressed through a combination of base-load and renewable technologies, acting in concert to close the demand/supply deficit whilst maintaining frequency control in the management of the National grid. Closing South Africa’s supply gap will, therefore, require a balance between these technologies and not a choice between one or the other. The Eskom Winter 2023 demand analysis projected a maximum demand of 34 000 MW, and supply for the period June 2023 to October 2023 averaged at around 28 400 MW. This suggests a supply deficit (based on peak demand) of around 6000 MW. In the medium term, accounting for growth based on an industrial-intensive path will increase the demand for baseload supply to guarantee energy security.

2 (a) Refer to 1(a) above.

2 (b) REfer to 1(a) above.

Reply:

The Donation of emergency power equipment by the People’s Republic of China to South Africa is a consolidation of the strategic diplomatic partnership between the respect Republics, in an attempt to resolve the energy crisis, which presently besets South Africa.

The donation is in the form of emergency power equipment procured and supplied by the Chinese government, which will be distributed/dispatched in line with the differentiated energy demands in public facilities, in particular, public heath, educational and justice facilities to mitigate the impact during loadshedding.

Reply:

(a) the 100MW threshold has been lifted as part of the deregulation of the energy sector. Currently, no limit exists for embedded generation.

The pipeline of confirmed private sector generation projects has increased to 126 projects representing more than 12 GW of new capacity since the amendment of Schedule 2 of the Electricity Regulation Act to remove the licensing threshold for generation facilities. 1338 MW is expected to connect to the grid in 2023 and 3081 MW in 2024. A survey by Eskom showed that the total number of projects in the pipeline is 66 GW.

(b) All Generators are required to Register their Projects with the National Electricity Regulator of South Africa (NERSA).

Reply:

(1)(a) (i), (ii), (b) At the concept phase for each new power station, the maintenance requirements for each system and component are received from the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). These are adapted by Eskom to take Eskom-specific and environmental factors into account.

This results in a philosophy maintenance regime, which is implemented as the plant becomes operational, and which determines the required periodicity and scope of the various maintenance activities and outages. Thus, philosophy maintenance refers to these specified required maintenance activities while planned maintenance refers to all maintenance that meets the requirements to be considered as planned – typically 28 days’ notice – and includes all philosophy maintenance.

(2) All power stations have their own maintenance philosophy which is effective on commercial operations throughout the life of the plant.

(3) As part of continuous improvement, Eskom has adopted liability-based maintenance which also assists in managing the plant based on risk. This allows Eskom to better manage the plant risk based on the available funds to execute maintenance.