Government is processing applications for various projects to produce 9 789 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy, says forestry, fisheries and environment minister Barbara Creecy.
“As our country faces severe load-shedding, I am happy to share with you that in our Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) section there is a project pipeline of 9 789MW for renewable energy applications.”
The minister made the pronouncement during the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment’s 2023/24 budget vote in Parliament.
In a statement yesterday, embattled power utility Eskom said breakdowns at its power stations are currently at 16 486MW of generating capacity, while the generating capacity out of service for planned maintenance is 3 817MW.
The utility was implementing stage five load-shedding at the time writing.
Renewable energy projects, according to Creecy, are made up of 2 899MW of solar photovoltaic and 6 890MW for wind energy facilities.
In addition, many of these applications include battery energy storage systems, associated transmission and distribution infrastructure.
As the electricity challenges persist, government has been looking at renewable energy as a solution to the crisis.
Last week, energy minister Gwede Mantashe said government is set to open new bid windows to procure renewable energy from independent power producers.
He noted that Bid Windows 7 and 8 will each give 5 000MW of renewable energy.
“We are working hard to cut the red tape and get these projects finalised, and in this regard, we have reduced our decision-making timeframes from 107 days to 57 days,” Creecy said.
Grid capacity, according to the minister, is a major constraint to scaling up the energy transition.
“This is the view across the board, with consensus from stakeholders, government, business, labour and civil society. Grid capacity is a national priority to solve, not only for our transition needs, but also for our short-term emergency to solve load-shedding.”
The minister told members of Parliament that her department has 15 EIA applications relating to transmission and distribution infrastructure, which they are also prioritising for decision-making.
At a briefing on Thursday, Eskom acting CEO Calib Cassim announced that if a series of interventions to reduce power demands and improve reliability is unsuccessful this winter, load-shedding could intensify to stage eight.
Cassim said the state-owned entity is approaching the cold season with 3 000MW less capacity compared to last year, due to three units of Kusile Power Station and one unit of Koeberg Nuclear Power Station being currently offline.
“Honourable members, in recent times, concern has been expressed that as we battle load-shedding, we are considering delays in decommissioning ageing coal-fired power stations. Government is clear that we must battle both load-shedding and climate change. It is not a one or the other decision,” said Creecy.
She added that current modelling would advise how government balances the decommissioning schedule to achieve energy security within the context of climate change commitments and air quality improvement.
In addition, she said the South African Weather Service is in the process of automating and modernising its observations infrastructure.
This includes upgrades to mitigate the effect load-shedding is having on data collection processes.
“Increased collection and accuracy of data will ensure we can warn the public of extreme weather events in good time, saving lives and livelihoods.”
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