Energy expert Professor Anton Eberhard says government lacks transparency and a sense of urgency in the procurement of new renewable energy generation capacity from independent power producers.
Eskom says it expects most of its units to come back into operation by Thursday evening before suspending its rolling blackouts.
On Tuesday morning, the power utility implemented Stage 4 of the rolling blackouts after its Majuba unit 5 and Tutuka unit 4 tripped.
Eskom says the cold weather and persistent rain from the past long weekend saw increased demand and disrupted its planned maintenance schedule.
Eskom CEO Andre de Ryter explains in the video below:
During a media briefing on Tuesday, De Ryter said there has been another deterioration of generation capacity.
Eskom has called for an acceleration of efforts to allow Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to provide additional capacity to the grid.
Professor Eberhard says government has no will to resolve the country’s energy crisis.
“Non-discriminatory access to the grid, that’s another big issue at the moment. There are problems around registration. They are really struggling to get access to the grid to assist with power. But if we had an independent transmission system and market operator, a lot of these issues would have been resolved.”
In the Twitter thread below, Professor Eberhard outlines measures government can take to resolve South Africa’s energy crisis:
(i) More urgency is needed in government decision-making: e.g. approval of @Eskom_SA’s standard offer for procuring small generators; or the IPP Office amending existing IPP contracts to allow them to sell more; or NT PFMA exemptions to speed Eskom maintenance procurements; 2/
— Anton Eberhard (@AntonEberhard) April 19, 2022
(ii) Further regulatory reform: e.g. making easier the NERSA registration process for license exempt generators under 100MW, and streamlining transmission system use of system and wheeling applications and agreements; /3
— Anton Eberhard (@AntonEberhard) April 19, 2022
(iii) a revision of power sector strategies: e.g. an update of the IRP electricity plan, a recognition that Eskom is unlikely to lift power station EAF performance to 75% or above – more likely around 60% – and that hence South Africa needs to double new power procurements /4
— Anton Eberhard (@AntonEberhard) April 19, 2022
