Ramaphosa announces major change to fix load shedding

President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced the steps his government will take to ensure the end of load shedding in South Africa.

In a surprise address on Thursday afternoon (10 June), Ramaphosa said that this will include the amendment of schedule 2 of the Electricity Regulation Act to increase the NERSA licensing threshold for embedded generation projects from 1 MW to 100 MW.

“This intervention reflects our determination to take the necessary action to achieve energy security and reduce the impact of load shedding on businesses and households across the country,” He said.“ it is evidence of our intention to tackle this economic crisis head-on, by implementing major economic reforms that will transform our economy.”

Ramaphosa said that the amended regulations will exempt generation projects up to 100 MW in size from the NERSA licensing requirement, whether or not they are connected to the grid.

This will remove a significant obstacle to investment in embedded generation projects, he said.

“Generators will also be allowed to wheel electricity through the transmission grid, subject to wheeling charges and connection agreements with Eskom or the relevant municipality.”

However, generation projects will still need to obtain a grid connection permit to ensure that they meet all of the requirements for grid compliance, he said.

“This will ensure that we are able to bring online as much new capacity as possible without compromising the integrity or stability of our energy system.

“Generation projects will also need to have their registration approved by the regulator to verify that they have met these requirements and to receive authorization to operate.”

Read the full story on: Businesstech.