Power change on the way
Project aimed at helping municipalities procure electricity from independent producers
THE Province has assisted 24 out of its 30 local municipalities, as well as the City of Cape Town, with small-scale embedded generation (SSEG) projects in a bid to eliminate load shedding across the Western Cape, Finance and Economic Opportunities MEC David Maynier said.
This forms part of the municipal energy resilience (MER) project by the province aimed at assisting municipalities in the procurement of wholesale electricity from independent power producers (IPPs).
The MER project also aims to improve municipalities’ revenues by creating cost-effective electricity that is more secure and reliable.
Maynier was responding to a question from finance standing committee chairperson Deidré Baartman, who asked: “What does the MER project entail and has there has been buy-in from Western Cape municipalities?”
Maynier replied: “The procurement of energy at utility scale and distribution scale, ie bulk energy from IPPs, under conditions of developing and evolving policies and regulations, is a complex and challenging task.
“Municipalities, including metropolitan, district and local municipalities, may not have the policies, plans, resources, funding, or procurement expertise to procure wholesale electricity from sources other than Eskom, specifically IPPs.
“Neither have all municipalities’ electricity reticulation and distribution systems been technically evaluated to clarify their readiness for the implementation of electricity generation.
“The MER project therefore provides a structured approach towards supporting municipalities in navigating these complexities so as to realise the new energy and economic opportunities.”
SSEG refers to power generation facilities, located at residential, commercial or industrial sites. These are mainly solar photovoltaic systems but include other technologies, such as for wind and biogas.
In May last year, Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe gave permission for the regulatory body the National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) to licence 500MW of SSEG projects, sized between 1MW and 10MW, without the need for ministerial sign-off.
Subsequently in September this year Nersa released a list of municipalities with approved SSEG tariff structures.
Nersa’s list of Western Cape municipalities with approved small-scale embedded generation tariffs as of September includes: Beaufort West, Bitou, Breede Valley, Cape Agulhas, Cederberg, City of Cape Town, Drakenstein, George, Hessequa, Knysna, Langeberg, Matzikama and Stellenbosch.
Baartman said: “With this project the province is on right path to be first to beat load shedding.
“The 24 municipalities are poised to take advantage of the recent regulations that allow municipalities in good financial standing to procure their own energy.”