Over the past decade, South Africa has witnessed phenomenal growth in the addition of renewable energy sources to the national grid.
This is according to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), which yesterday released annual reports on power generation statistics in SA, covering the period from 1 January to 31 December 2024.
The report provides a detailed analysis of load-shedding statistics and the energy availability factor (EAF) during this timeframe.
The study compared Eskom’s aggregated generation resources for 2024, including coal, nuclear, hydro, pumped storage, open cycle gas turbine, renewable energy independent power producer procurement programme, solar photovoltaic (PV), wind and concentrated solar power (CSP) with their installed capacities and energy production outputs from January to December 2024 to assess their impact on load-shedding.
The CSIR notes this iteration also examined national average electricity tariff increases and compared it to the tariffs in other countries.
According to the think tank, in a decade, SA witnessed growth of over 300% of total renewable energy installed capacity under the country’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP).
It notes that from 1 January 2014 to 30 June 2024, 3 443MW of wind, 2 287MW of large-scale solar PV and 500MW of CSP became operational in the country.
Successful bidding windows
REIPPPP is a government initiative launched to facilitate the development of renewable energy projects. The goal is to increase the generation of electricity from renewable sources, such as solar, wind, hydro and biomass, to meet the country’s growing energy demands, while reducing its reliance on fossil fuels.
The programme allows independent power producers to submit bids for renewable energy projects, and successful bidders sign long-term power purchase agreements with Eskom, the state-owned electricity supplier.
The REIPPPP has had several bidding windows, each focusing on different renewable energy technologies. It has been divided into different phases, and each phase has seen increasing levels of competition and a reduction in the cost of renewable energy.
This, as the country continues to endure energy security challenges and has had to implement load-shedding over many years to avoid the total collapse of the grid.
The CSIR says Eskom's annual average EAF gradually increased to 60%, compared to an average of 55% in 2023, driven by an improved unplanned plant failure rate and relatively higher planned maintenance undertaken in 2024.
It notes the demand for Eskom’s electricity decreased by an average of 3% this year due to increased private sector generation capacity uptake.
Consequently, it states that a combination of lower electricity demand and a gradual increase in Eskom’s EAF helped to reduce the utilisation of diesel generators to an average of 6% in 2024, compared to 12% in 2023, and eliminated load-shedding from April 2024 onwards.
The think tank points out that the national average electricity tariff increased by an average of 10% per year from 2014 to 2024, compared to an average inflation rate of 5.2% over the same period.
NERSA okays tariff increases
Meanwhile, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) announced yesterday that at its meeting on 11 March, it considered and approved the Eskom Retail Tariffs and Structural Adjustment (ERTSA) application. This will see an average tariff increase of 12.74% for Eskom direct customers and 11.32% for municipalities.
The approved standard tariff increase of 12.74% will be implemented on 1 April 2025 until 31 March 2026 for Eskom direct customers, and the 11.32% increase will be implemented on 1 July 2025 for municipal customers.
NERSA says the difference in percentage is brought about by the difference in the implementation dates of Eskom direct customers and municipalities buying from Eskom.
According to the ERTSA methodology, Eskom must recover the full allowed revenue within its financial year, which is from April to March. However, the municipal financial year is from July to June.
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