Eskom’s plans to acquire battery energy storage systems (BESS) are at an advanced stage, with further tranches of BESS rollout to follow imminently.
Eskom revealed its advanced procurement plan yesterday, as it welcomed president Cyril Ramaphosa’s measures to address the long-running electricity crisis.
BESS solutions are an enabler to supply backup power to those who want to make greater use of renewable energy.
The Eskom BESS project involves the development of a 360MW storage system (equivalent to 1 440MWh with four hours of storage) at various Eskom distribution sites in several provinces, including the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
The project is set to be implemented in two phases, targeting installation of 800MWh and 640MWh, respectively. Phase one is expected to reduce energy curtailment by approximately 320MWh and 140MWh at the Skaapvlei and Melkhout sites.
This week, Ramaphosa unveiled a power plan, placing renewables at the core of government’s plans to end load-shedding.
The president said one of the first steps government took to address the electricity shortfall was to revive the renewable energy procurement programme.
In response, Eskom welcomed the move by government, saying: “Particularly pleasing to Eskom is that government has made these moves to empower Eskom to speedily acquire additional generation capacity from existing IPP with excess capacity, to acquire spares and equipment from original equipment manufacturers and indeed, the resources to increase the funding of the maintenance budget.”
Eskom says it is looking forward to playing its part in the rapid and effective implementation of the president’s plan, and will work with government, regulators, labour and the private sector to bring an end to load-shedding soon.
Meanwhile, Mandla Rayi, chairperson of the committee on trade and industry, economic development, small business development, tourism, employment and labour, also lauded Ramaphosa’s plans to stabilise electricity generation in the country.
“On behalf of the committee, it is exciting that the president honestly confronted the proverbial elephant in the room, which is reliable electricity supply, and gave cogent plans on what government had planned.
“We reiterate the call by the president that all South Africans be part of the solution to this energy crisis. National shutdowns that are threatened by some will slow our economic growth and will contribute nothing to our country.
“The committee believes Eskom should play a role in the renewables space, but not only that, communities and municipalities too should pay debt owed to Eskom in order to have a sustainable and reliable power supply.”
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