Energy deals delayed
NUMSA’s urgent interdict to delay the conclusion of power purchase agreements cites already-debunked arguments relating to job losses, coal power station closures and rising electricity prices, said the SA Wind Energy Association (Sawea).
The National Union of Metalworkers of SA said it had obtained an urgent court interdict preventing power utility Eskom from signing renewable energy contracts yesterday with 27 independent power producers.
It said the adoption of renewable energy would mean that Eskom required less coalfired electricity, likely leading to the closure of power plants and causing job losses that would affect 30 000 families.
But Energy Minister Jeff Radebe, who was due to sign the deal on behalf of the government, denied an interdict had been issued, saying the high court had merely postponed a hearing to March 27 and he had voluntarily deferred the signing until then.
Regardless, the postponement of the deal is a setback for independent producers who say Eskom has dragged its feet on signing it.
“The delayed investment of over R59 billion, the creation of over 13 000 construction jobs and a further 2 000 operations jobs was meant to be unlocked today,” said Sawea chief executive Brenda Martin.
She said renewables already cost over 50% less than new coal-fired power, government policy has for years included the closure of coal-fired power stations, the associated job losses are being planned for through numerous processes now under way – most notably processes being undertaken by the national planning commission, electricity price increases are directly related to the extended delays and rising costs associated with Eskom’s coal build programme.
Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement was borne out of the government’s policyembedded vision for an expansion of South Africa’s energy mix to include independent power with an associated range of clear developmental imperatives.
“These include a goaldirected transition away from coal-fired power, the creation of new jobs in this transition, a direct contribution to South Africa’s carbon emissions reduction targets, and investment growth that would strengthen the South African economy,” Martin said.
Numsa, which filed the application together with lobby group Transform RSA, said the court found that “our application meets the standard for urgency and therefore granted us the interdict”.
“Furthermore, the energy minister was forced to give an undertaking in court that he would not sign the IPP agreements on Tuesday (yesterday) until the matter has been given a full hearing by the high court,” it added.
But in his own statement, Radebe said the court had refused to grant an interim interdict against him or Eskom but instead postponed the matter.
“In the absence of an interdict… nothing prevented Eskom and IPPs from signing the agreements as scheduled by me for Tuesday,” he said.
“However, counsel for the minister, informed the court that while there is no interdict granted, the signing will however be postponed until March 27 when the matter is finally disposed of in court.”
Numsa insists the IPP roll out would raise the cost of electricity dramatically.