Mineral resources & energy minister Gwede Mantashe said the Integrated Resource Plan 2019 (IRP 2019), SA’s energy mix blueprint, had been largely implemented and would be revised to take into account the future beyond 2030.
The IRP 2019 focuses on electricity infrastructure build towards 2030 and targets reducing reliance on coal to below 60% by that year.
“We have agreed now to revisit the IRP 2019. The reason we say we must revise it is because a big part of it has been implemented. We must now revisit it to look into the future beyond 2030,” Mantashe said.
He was speaking in Pretoria on Thursday during the signing of power purchase agreements for 150MW of capacity from three projects by Scatec, a Norwegian developer of renewable energy projects, signalling progress made by the government to add capacity to the constrained grid.
The three Scatec solar PV and battery storage projects in the Northern Cape are part of 11 successful bids to procure 2,000MW of emergency power that were selected last year under the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme in a bid to alleviate load-shedding.
Eskom CEO André de Ruyter said the power utility was pleased that much-needed additional generation capacity could be fed into the national grid.
“Eskom will continue to do everything we can to assist the DMRE [department of mineral resources & energy] to facilitate the introduction of further generation capacity in the best interests of the whole country.”
Bernard Tshifhiwa Magoro, head of the independent power producers office, said the projects were the “first of a kind” in SA, merging solar PV and battery technologies to contribute 150MW of dispatchable capacity to the national grid.
He said they drew R16bn in investment and are expected to create about 4,968 job opportunities during the construction and operation phases. They are expected to deliver energy in the next 12 to 18 months.
Magoro said a remaining eight projects would be given an opportunity to resolve outstanding matters.
“There is collective agreement among all parties to expedite the resolution, recognising that any decisions taken must be in line with the requirements set out in the request for proposals and public procurement legislation.”
Most of the projects picked as preferred bidders were reportedly won by Turkey’s Karpowership, a supplier of floating gas-fired plants. The process has been hamstrung by court cases and awaits approvals.
This unique solar and storage project signifies change within Africa’s renewable energy landscape
— Scatec CEO Terje Pilskog
Scatec CEO Terje Pilskog said the signing acknowledged a landmark achievement by the government and the private sector.
“This unique solar and storage project signifies change within Africa’s renewable energy landscape and will be one of the largest renewable energy and storage projects in the world.”
Mantashe said the three projects were a boost to emergency production.
“We need energy in the grid, including resolving the problem of Karpowership, which worked very well in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, and they work well in Gabon.
“I was there, they are working well, and in SA no. All the gas holders that have been approved are taken to court in SA. But Europe has taken a decision that gas and nuclear are part of their just transition.”
Last year the government amended the Electricity Regulation Act to clear the way for energy projects of up to 100MW to operate without a licence.
Mantashe said the amendment was one of the government’s decisions aimed at getting energy to the grid faster.
“That is a big challenge for Eskom, that Eskom must move quickly to improve the capacity of our transmission. If we do not improve that transmission — the Northern Cape, for example, is the potential future of renewable energy but it has the weakest transmission. We must improve transmission so that when energy is available it must get into the transmission.”
He said the government had revised the law to allow for the establishment of an independent transmission company.
“That will be a marketer, wheeler and dealer of energy, so anybody can send energy to anybody anywhere. We are inviting as many investors as possible that use all these facilities that are there to bring more energy to the grid and resolve the problem of load-shedding.”
The department has completed procurement of 6,422MW of renewable energy through four bid windows. It is in the process of procuring at least another 6,800MW — about 2,600MW of which falls under bid window 5, with preferred bidders announced at the end of 2021.
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