Confusion over Durban’s plan for own power
● eThekwini Municipality is working on an ambitious R324bn plan to generate its own power, but the head of its energy transition department and management are not on the same page on nuclear power.
In an SA Institute of Electrical Engineers webinar two weeks ago, head of energy transition Sbu Ntshalintshali revealed that the city was awaiting permission from National Treasury ahead of issuing a request for proposals for 400MW of power generation capacity this year or the first quarter of 2023.
The “capacity in procurement” was expected to generate electricity by 2025 while the long-term planned capacity of 2,600MW would be online by 2035.
Ntshalintshali was clear the city’s power supplies would come from 940MW of nuclear power, 850MW of power from natural gas, 500MW of coal-fired generation, 300MW from offshore windpower plants, 200MW of photovoltaic solar power, 110MW from biomass, 50MW from waste-to-energy plants and 50MW of hydropower.
However, on Thursday eThekwini Municipality said nuclear power was not an option.
“In June 2021, council adopted the energy transition policy for the eThekwini municipal area after a robust stakeholder engagement process. Most importantly, the key strategy documents that informed the development of the energy transition policy were also subjected to a similar rigorous stakeholder engagement process before the policy statements being adopted,” said municipal spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela.
“The council’s adopted energy transition policy does not have nuclear power anywhere in its implementation pipeline. Furthermore, one of the strategic documents, the integrated resource plan, makes it very clear that nuclear power is one energy source that eThekwini Municipality will not be considering for many reasons.”
Neither the municipality nor Ntshalintshali would comment on the backtracking of the nuclear aspect of the plan.
Ntshalintshali told the Sunday Times the plan was holistic and likely to cause an about-turn for the economic situation of Durban and KwaZulu-Natal.
“The Municipal Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (MIPPPP) will attract R324bn of private investment by 2035. The short-term target is R10bn private investment by 2025, creation of more than 4,000 jobs, social integration plan for nearby communities through a well-structured trust, and skills transfer for officials.
“The city is not investing any money in the development of power generation. However, the city will procure electricity from those IPPs.”
The site identification “will be a responsibility of the investor”.
Former president of the Council on Large Electric Systems, Rob Stephen, said the city’s “very ambitious” plan appeared to be well thought out.
“The energy mix is good and allows for sufficient components, if you include storage, to successfully run the grid in a stable manner. The inclusion of nuclear is good as it provides zero emissions with synchronous generation and possibility of desalination plants as a spin off,” he said.
But he said implementation would be an issue. Independent economic and energy analyst Tshepo Kgadima said the proposal was “more of a wish list than an executable plan and it appears to have been conjectured up by lobbyists on behalf of rent-seeking privateers”.
“It is therefore not feasible in that it lacks requisite details on energy efficiency factor, energy availability factor, capital cost per dispatchable megawatt hour, and so on. Also, the term ‘energy mix’ referred to in the ‘plan’ is a misnomer.”
DA KZN chairperson Dean Macpherson said it was prepared to go to court to stop the plan.
“The idea that the municipality has either the funding or technical expertise to embark on this project is laughable and delusional. The ANC-run eThekwini Municipality has a long history of failed city-owned projects. From chicken farms to uShaka Marine World and the Moses Mabhida Stadium. Everything it touches, it either breaks or ends in financial ruin.”
Non-profit Centre for Environmental Rights attorney Gabrielle Knott said it was opposed to any coal or gas power projects proposed by the city.
She said there was extensive evidence to demonstrate the harms to human health, the climate, the environment and the economy from burning gas for electricity.