As Eskom load shedding prevails, some cities are turning to the private sector to solve the crisis, with much interest being shown in renewable energy projects.
Cities including Johannesburg, Cape Town and eThekwini are trying to tackle dire energy shortages while also meeting environmental commitments.

Michael Sun, Johannesburg’s mayoral committee members for the environment and infrastructure services, told the Joburg Energy Indaba that in 2022 load shedding had cost the country between R60-billion and R120-billion.

“Now you can imagine, if we could use that money, that we suffered as a loss, in building our economy, investing in infrastructure,” said Sun.

Here’s what’s happening in three of South Africa’s major cities.

Johannesburg
The City of Joburg held its first Energy Indaba on 23 May, aimed at finding sustainable and affordable solutions to the energy crisis. Mayor Mpho Phalatse said: “We cannot assume any more that our power will be solely generated by Eskom. Instead, more and more alternative energy models have come through and, as the City, we are forced to recognise so-called embedded generation as a serious option.”

The indaba aimed to engage with businesses and the government to find a way to reduce the city’s 90%  energy dependence on Eskom and find a permanent solution to load shedding.

Eskom uses mostly fossil fuels, as does independent Kelvin Power Station, from where the municipality gets the remaining 10% of its power, and the city council is keen on “clean” alternatives.

In the short term it wants a 28% reduction in carbon gas emissions, and has a longer term goal of zero emissions by 2050. Technologies identified include solar, battery storage, waste-to-energy and gas.

“Clean energy provided by independent power producers will not only improve the City’s energy security, but also respond positively to the climate change imperative,” said Phalatse.
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Of the sixteen registered power generation systems, eleven will be generating electricity for their own use, and five generation facilities will be generating for commercial purposes.

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) has announced the registration of 16 embedded generation projects with a total power generation capacity of 211 megawatts (MW). The regulator announced the registrations during its executive committee meeting on Monday.

The renewable energy projects will have a cumulative estimated investment value of R3.65-billion (US$234 million). 

According to Regulator Member, Muzi Mkhize, it took an average of 19 days for NERSA to process the applications for each of the 16 projects after registration. Mkhize also mentioned that the 19-day approval process trend was also the same period it took for registration of projects registered in 2020 and 2021.

“All 16 applications were received during April 2022 and processed within 19 working days. Three generation facilities for commercial purposes are above 10MW. Since the increase of the registration threshold from 1MW to 100MW, NERSA has approved 216 registration applications,” NERSA said.

South Africa now allows for setting up of embedded generation systems for up to 100MW without requiring licensing, but the projects still have to be approved by the energy regulator NERSA. South Africa’s renewable energy industry has been calling for an expedited registration process for projects to help the country improve energy supply and reduce blackouts (load-shedding)

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​NERSA revealed that 54 generation facilities with a total capacity of 29.148MW were approved in the first quarter of 2022. The total investment cost is approximately R452 million.

Of the sixteen registered power generation systems, eleven will be generating electricity for their own use, and five generation facilities will be generating for commercial purposes. NERSA says all applicants have connection approvals from licensed distributors. 

“Twelve applicants will be connected to the Eskom network and four to the municipal networks. Fifteen applicants use solar photovoltaic (PV) technology, and one applicant uses wind turbine technology,” NERSA adds.

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South Africa’s plan to procure emergency power to help Eskom stave off load-shedding before the end of 2022 has been utterly derailed.

The energy department on Thursday announced it had signed off on a power purchasing agreement (PPA) with Norwegian company Scatec to provide 150MW of dispatchable renewable generating capacity.

This was part of the Risk Mitigation Programme Independent Power Producers Programme (RMIPPP).

The hybrid installation in the Northern Cape will consist of 540MW of solar PV capacity and 1.1GWh of battery storage, providing the ability to dispatch 150MW to Eskom’s grid at any given time.

The project must now reach financial close within 60 days from the signoff, after which construction will begin. It is expected to start providing power to the national grid by the end of 2023.

These are the first of 11 planned RMIPPP projects progressing to this stage.

Government first announced its plan to procure emergency power in December 2019.

The department officially gazetted the programme on 7 July 2020.

One of its main goals was to address the electricity supply gap that prevented Eskom from performing necessary maintenance on its coal power fleet, forcing it to implement severe load-shedding.

The programme also intended to reduce the power utility’s reliance on expensive diesel-based peaking open cycle gas turbines (OCGTs).

Eskom’s OCGTSs provide extra power during high demand periods when its typical generation is insufficient.

In March 2021, the department announced the eight preferred RMIPPP bidders, with a combined dispatchable capacity of 1,825MW.

The three projects from Scatec were added to the list three months later, meaning the programme would provide 1,975MW capacity once all the projects were built.

However, the approval of power purchasing agreements for the remaining eight projects dragged along at a snail’s pace.

The result is that none of the projects are expected to be completed by the end of the year — which was the deadline government initially set by which bidders had to supply electricity.

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President Cyril Ramaphosa has outlined the additional electricity generation capacity that will come online in the coming years to help solve South Africa’s power crisis.

Speaking during his state of the nation address for 2022, the president acknowledged that the current power situation presented one of the greatest threats to economic and social progress.

“Load-shedding continues to have a huge impact on the lives of South Africans, disrupting businesses and putting a strain on our families,” Ramaphosa stated.

Echoing previous warnings from state-owned power utility Eskom, Ramaphosa said the country had a generation shortfall of around 4,000MW.

The president blamed this on ageing power stations, poor maintenance, and the ruinous effects of state capture.
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Ramaphosa commended Eskom for its intensive maintenance programme to reverse “many years of neglected maintenance and underperformance of existing plants”.

He also stated that his government had taken “firm steps” to bring additional generation online as quickly as possible to close the shortfall.

As a result, Ramaphosa said the following generation capacity would come online in the next few years:

500MW of remaining projects at an advanced stage from Bid Window 4 of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPP)
2,600MW from Bid Window 5 of the REIPPP for which preferred bidders have been announced
2,600MW from Bid Window 6 of the REIPPP which will soon be opened to bidders
800MW from the emergency risk mitigation programme that is ready to proceed
3,000MW of gas power, with requests for proposals later this year
500MW battery storage, with requests for proposals later this year
4,000MW embedded generation from mines
1,400MW of independent power secured by municipalities
In total, these projects should contribute a further 15,400MW of capacity.

Ramaphosa said that radical amendments made to Electricity Regulation Act were recently published for public comment.
“These far-reaching amendments will enable a competitive market for electricity generation and the establishment of an independent state-owned transmission company,” he stated.
Ramaphosa said Eskom’s separate transmission subsidiary was on track to complete unbundling by the end of 2022.

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Rich nations, including the United States and the United Kingdom, have announced $8.5 billion (R131 billion) in funding over the next three to five years to speed up South Africa’s move from coal to clean energy.

South Africa, the world’s 12th-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, depends on coal to generate most of its electricity.

It will receive a range of funding, including grants and concessional finance, to accelerate investment in renewable energy and the development of green hydrogen.

The plan will involve closing South African coal stations ahead of schedule, Joe Biden told reporters at the Conference of the Parties (COP).

The partnership also includes France, Germany and the European Union.

US President Joe Biden said he’s offering an alternative to China’s plan to build infrastructure in countries that are among the most vulnerable to climate change. At the same time, his special envoy, John Kerry, sees finance pledges approaching the $100 billion annual target.

Much of the focus of Day Two at COP26 in Glasgow is on aid to developing nations, with a separate push for more private sector money for the energy transition.

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President Cyril Ramaphosa said the partnership would support a just transition to a low carbon economy and a climate-resilient society in South Africa.

South Africa submitted a revised Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to reduce domestic carbon emissions to within a target range for emissions of between 420 CO2-eq and 350 CO2-eq by 2030.

“This revised target is compatible with the ambitious goals of the Paris Agreement and represents our country’s best effort to confront climate change,” Ramaphosa said. “The initial R131 billion will support the implementation of our revised NDC.”

One of the resolutions of the “Political Declaration on the just energy transition in South Africa” is to establish an inclusive task force comprised of South African and international partners.

This task force has set deadlines to meet over the next 12 months, with its first set of commitments deliverable within six months.

Within a calendar year, the task force must:

Develop a complete programme of work for this partnership based on an investment plan for the just energy transition of the South African government, including support to address the social and economic impacts.
Provide a leaders’ level update to review progress.
Identify potential financing instruments and policies that will act to improve Eskom’s long term financial sustainability.
Work to address South Africa’s longer-term funding needs to lower emissions across all sectors of the economy.
 Identify how to leverage further financial resources, including domestic resources, to that effect.

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​The 25 projects are expected to inject a total private sector investment amount of about R50 billion to the South African economy and also create 13,900 job opportunities.

Minerals and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has announced the preferred bidders appointed under the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) bid window 5 meant to supplement the power generation supply from Eskom as the country continues to experience load shedding.

The request for proposals was sent out in April this year, with the government committing to announce preferred bidders before the end of October.

To date, the government has procured and signed agreements with 93 Independent Power Producer projects (IPPs), said Mantashe during a media briefing on Thursday.

“89 of these projects including Bid-Window 4 projects signed in 2018 are already connected to the grid and supplying 6,855 MW which is equivalent to two of Eskom’s six-pack coal-fired power stations. These include 86 renewable energy projects, two diesel-fired peaking plants, and five small power plants in the form of hydropower, landfill gas and biomass.


“In addition to the projects mentioned, we have selected 11 Preferred Bidder projects totalling 1,995 MW under the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme. Power from these preferred bidder projects is expected to be connected to the grid within 18 months after the signing of commercial agreements currently set for the end of January 2022.”​

The department is also in the process of procuring 160MW from existing renewable energy IPPs.

Bid window 5 aims to procure 2,600 MW, which includes 1,600 MW from onshore wind and 1,000 MW from Solar PV plants.

Out of the 102 bids received, the government selected 25 projects which will procure 2,583 MW.

“A noticeable development is that we have Preferred Bidder projects in provinces not in previous renewable energy bid windows. Seven of the selected Preferred Bidders are located in the Free State Province, and one in KwaZulu-Natal,” said Gwede.


The 25 projects are expected to inject a total private sector investment amount of about R50 billion to the South African economy and also create 13,900 job opportunities.

“These projects will continue to make a difference in the lives of not only those communities in the vicinity of the proposed power plants who will own 2.5 percent of the Preferred Bidder Projects. The Preferred Bidders have also committed a total of R 2.7 billion towards Socio-Economic Development and Enterprise and skills development initiatives over the 20-year lifetime of the projects,” said Gwede.

These are the preferred bidders for the project:

• Coleskop Wind Energy Facility
• San Kraal Wind Energy Facility
• Phezukomoya Wind Energy Facility
• Brandvalley Wind Farm
• Rietkloof Wind Farm
• Wolf Wind Farm
• Beaufort West Wind Facility
• Trakas Wind Facility
• Sutherland Wind Facility
• Rietrug Wind Facility
• Waaihoek Wind Facility
• Dwarsrug Wind Facility
• Grootfontein PV 1
• Grootfontein PV 2
• Grootfontein PV 3
• Grootspruit Solar PV Project
• Graspan Solar PV Project
• Sannaspos Solar PV Project
• Du Plessis Dam Solar PV 1
• Kentani Solar Facility
• Klipfontein Solar Facility
• Klipfontein 2 Solar Facility
• Leliehoek Solar Facility
• Braklaagte Solar Facility
• Sonoblomo Solar Facility

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In light of the recent spell of load-shedding, South African Breweries (SAB) has announced its plans to brew from entirely renewable resources by 2025.
The company also plans to brew Castle Light — almost half of which is already produced from renewable resources — using only renewable electricity.

To reach its goals of 100% renewable energy by 2025, Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev, SAB’s holding company) will need solar power generation facilities able to produce 191MW.

SAB said that all of its breweries in South Africa use some form of solar power generation, while the Alrode brewery in Johannesburg also uses biogas to produce electricity.

Since the start of 2021, the AB InBev-owned company has generated 9.7GWh of renewable electricity, saying that it would use all options available to further reduce its load on the national power grid.

SAB has managed to reduce its CO2 emissions by 9,443 tons since the start of the year.

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Colleen Duvenage, Brand Director for Castle Lite, spoke about the transition last week.

“We know how important sustainability and our environmental future is for South Africa, but sometimes, it feels like such a big task that we can’t do anything to make a difference,” she said.

“Our consumers can do their bit by choosing a beer that is not only hugely enjoyable and super refreshing, but is also reducing its load on the national power supply with its production, ensuring there is more to go around.”

SAB first announced its intentions to go off-grid in January 2020, saying it intended to buy 100% of required energy-generation equipment from South African manufacturers

Eskom announced Stage 4 load-shedding on Wednesday, which it said will revert to Stage 2 at 05:00 on Friday.

It said that Stage 2 load-shedding would then continue until 05:00 on Saturday.

During its State of the System update earlier this week, Eskom presented a forecast that showed South Africa could suffer more than 94 days of load-shedding in the coming months.

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Should State power utility Eskom show the way to a cleaner and greener energy future through its 15-year roadmap, group CEO Andre de Ruyter believes it will demonstrate Africa’s ability to leapfrog older technologies and “move straight to the latest technologies”.

Eskom, he notes, is responsible for about 25% of Africa’s carbon emissions, making it the largest electricity generator on the continent.

Additionally, considering that electricity is, in this modern day and age, “essential for human dignity”, De Ruyter refers to one of Eskom’s latest technological developments – the modular microgrid.

This, he explains, can be deployed “in a matter of days” to remote and outlying areas that may be too difficult or too costly to connect to conventional grids.

The modular microgrid enables the utility to bring 24/7 electricity to these communities at a “significantly low cost”.

International development agencies have expressed an interest in its roll-out, though De Ruyter notes that a leadership role is still required.

He explains that Eskom will not be a manufacturer of these grids, but would prefer to enable a number of private sector manufacturers to build these, leaving Eskom to “act as a customer” and enable support.
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“We want to buy them and then use them to continue on our electrification mission.”
As Eskom cannot be responsible for the entire value chain, owing to its own current commitments, De Ruyter says the utility will likely act as a catalyst that enables development of such microgrids.
“We think there's a very capable and competent private sector that should assume appropriate risk.”
De Ruyter spoke during a keynote address at a COP26-focused discussion hosted by Enlit-Africa

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Eskom announced on Tuesday that it had shared its Transmission Development Plan (TDP) for the period 2022 to 2031 with stakeholders during a virtual public forum.

This forms part of the power utility’s transmission licence requirements issued by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa.

It calls on Eskom to publish a TDP annually.

Eskom said that 30GW of new generation capacity is expected to come online during this planning period — mainly from renewable energy sources such as solar photovoltaics and wind.

This represents more than two-thirds of Eskom’s coal-based generating capacity of 44,055 megawatts (44.1GW). Eskom’s total installed capacity is 51,920.2MW.

The power utility noted that this 30GW of new solar and wind generation capacity would be built in areas with limited electric network infrastructure.

Former South Africa Wind Energy Association CEO Ntombifuthi Ntuli previously told MyBroadband that wind power would make up a total of 14.4GW of power supply by 2030.

“Wind energy will play a significant role in the energy transition as it will contribute 18% to the total power system by 2030,” she stated.

Eskom said that it would need to build an additional 8,300km of extra-high-voltage lines and 119 transformers to bring on board 58,970 MVA of transformer capacity over the next ten years.

“The total Eskom Transmission capital plan amounts to R178 billion over the next ten years,” said Eskom group executive for transmission, Segomoco Scheppers.

“Of this amount, R144 billion is required for new capacity expansion projects to meet the reliability requirements, connection of new generation capacity and loads, as well acquire servitudes.”

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​Scheppers said a further R34 billion is required for refurbishments to the existing asset base and procurement of production equipment, as well as strategic spares.

“As a state-owned entity, Eskom understands the critical role it plays in enabling South Africa’s economic recovery efforts,” stated Scheppers.

“Without reliable electricity, there can be no sustainable economic recovery or growth.”


Segomoco Scheppers, Eskom group executive for transmission
Scheppers also said that work is underway to connect utility-scale renewable generation projects for Bid Window 5 of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP).

These projects are expected to be connected to the national electricity grid by 2024/25.

“We are also making our systems ready to connect the additional 2,000 MW capacity procured through the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP),” said Scheppers.

This capacity is meant to relieve pressure on Eskom’s grid and reduce the need for load-shedding.

However, the RMIPPP involves controversial Turkish powership supplier Karpowership.

If only South Africa would look to its available resources of sun and wind it may well be able to address its employment and energy problems.

This is according to several panellists who took part in a webinar, “Climate choice or climate challenge?”, hosted by Sanlam Investments.

Professor Guy Midgley, a climate scientist at Stellenbosch University, argued that a possible solution to the 44% unemployment rate in South Africa, the country’s failing energy system and the climate crisis is to transform South Africa’s energy systems.

Midgley said if thousands of South Africans were employed to build a new energy system this would sort out the country’s energy problems and contribute to the mitigation of the climate crisis.

“We seem to be ignoring all this as an opportunity; we have plenty of renewable energy in this country which we can convert to usable energy,” he said.

Midgley said the migration of people into cities is a tremendous opportunity to clean up the system and make it more efficient.

“Population is not the problem; the problem is overconsumption based on a very dirty energy system. The World Economic Forum has highlighted a study done by Harvard University where they showed that it is possible to shift the entire world’s system to renewable energy by 2050. One of those papers looks at sub-Saharan Africa and it said it is possible just beyond 2030 to shift the entire sub-Saharan Africa to renewable energy. 

“This is an opportunity – we know how to do it, we are just not taking it,” Midgley said.

Another panellist, Ramez Naam, the co-chair for energy and environment at Singularity University, said one of the challenges that Eskom faces is that there is no growth in sales of its product.

“Embracing electric vehicles will give them a new source of demand for electricity and that increases electricity sales. It is what will allow them to buy down their debt and become a more sustainable company,” he said.

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