State outlines medium-term plans to boost power supply
THE Department of Energy is working to secure 16,000MW of new power supply for SA in the medium term, including accelerating bids from the private sector for co-generation, gas and coalfired power, sourcing hydroelectric power from Grand Inga in the Congo and signing up renewable energy projects, acting director-general of energy Wolsey Barnard said yesterday.
THE Department of Energy is working to secure 16,000MW of new power supply for SA in the medium term.
Plans included accelerating private sector bids for co-generation, gas and coal-fired power, obtaining hydroelectric power from the Grand Inga Dam in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and signing up renewable energy projects, acting director-general of energy Wolsey Barnard said yesterday.
He said 32 of the 66 renewable energy contracts awarded were delivering more than 1,500MW of power to the grid.
He was delivering the keynote address yesterday at the Africa Energy Indaba in Sandton, in the absence of Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson.
The conference is being held in the midst of SA’s acute power shortages and load shedding.
Of about 43,000MW of installed capacity, SA has only 28,000MW-35,000MW available at any time because of planned and unplanned outages.
Dr Barnard said it would take 20-30 months to address Eskom’s maintenance backlog and restore full availability of installed capacity.
Answering questions on the sidelines of the conference, he said the department was finalising key policy documents including the integrated resource plan (IRP), integrated energy plan, gas utilisation master plan and liquid fuels strategy. But in the meantime, it was focusing on developing energy infrastructure — putting in place the infrastructure for gas supply was one of its priorities.
He said discussions were still under way on whether or not oil and gas legislation would be separated from the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act, after the amendment bill was recently sent back to Parliament for review.
The department said it expected clarity on this within weeks and that it would have a contribution to make on gas legislation.
Asked about rumours that SA had signed a special deal on procuring nuclear power from Russia, Dr Barnard said no binding agree- ments had been signed with any country. SA had invited countries to offer nuclear technology solutions and show what economic development would accompany it.
So far, five countries had showed interest, Dr Barnard said, and two or three more were expected to come forward. He said no tender had been issued.
This year, the next steps would be taken towards finalising a procurement process, then a decision would be made by the Cabinet.
At a panel discussion on nuclear energy, Nuclear Industry Association of SA MD Knox Msebenzi said the date of 2023 for nuclear energy commissioning mentioned last week by President Jacob Zuma in his state of the nation address was derived from the IRP2010.
This deadline had to be revised as there had been a delay in making the decision, and the timeline for delivery of nuclear power also depended on the technology and the vendor selected.
Asked if the hefty cost of nuclear energy was affordable for SA, especially with the weakening of the rand-dollar rate, North West University nuclear engineering lecturer Dawid Serfontein said it would not be affordable to buy technology from a dollar-based economy.
But the rouble had depreciated more than the rand, which was in Russia’s favour. Viktor Polikarpov, regional vice-president of Russian nuclear company Rosatom, said it offered various financial options: for example, in Finland, the nuclear power station combined public and private ownership.
Another option was for Russia to extend a state loan. The depreciation of the rouble did not mean Russia was bankrupt. It held one of the world’s biggest gold reserves, he said.
Areva MD Yves Guenon said the French nuclear company financed SA’s first nuclear power station, Koeberg. “When you finance it, you have to balance the ownership levels. It also depends on the scale on which you are building.”
It will take 20-30 months to fix Eskom’s maintenance backlog and restore full availability of capacity