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Green energy to ease power struggles

Tyson Ngubeni
By Tyson Ngubeni
Johannesburg, 18 Jun 2014
Government expects to get more solar energy producers on board to add power to the national grid.
Government expects to get more solar energy producers on board to add power to the national grid.

As Eskom announced more electricity blackouts last night, president Jacob Zuma's State of the Nation Address shed light on government's increasing reliance on renewable energy projects to boost the national grid.

Zuma called for a "radical transformation of the energy sector", adding that government's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme will take advantage of alternative means of generating electricity.

The programme aims to tap into the resources of independent power producers to generate around 3 725MW for the national grid, using solar, wind and hydro electricity.

In a statement issued yesterday, Eskom said it would revert to load shedding for a few hours to help ease pressure on its "severely constrained" system. "Should we receive the necessary savings from all our customers and the situation improves, we will terminate load reduction earlier," said Eskom.

The power utility had last week declared an emergency as it came under strain, triggering a round of blackouts which also lasted a few hours.

New projects

The Department of Energy recently made headway in its plans to power more than three million South African homes using solar electricity by 2030, by recently launching the R1.5 billion Droogfontein solar power plant, near Kimberley.

The facility is owned by renewable energy company Globeleq, which signed a 20-year deal with Eskom to provide 85 458MW of electricity.

Chris Haw, spokesperson of the SA Photovoltaic Industry Association, says more companies are expected to finalise deals to supply solar energy to Eskom as its procurement programme gathers pace.

Meanwhile, delays in launching Medupi - a new coal-fired power station near Lephalale - have added to pressure that has led to Eskom's blackouts. Construction began in 2007 and the power utility set a deadline for the facility to be operational by the end of this year.

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