Gwede Mantashe Addresses Joint sitting of Parliament On Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan.
By Phumzile Mavimbela
Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe addressed a joint sitting of Parliament on the debate to the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan, 21 October 2020, National Assembly. The Minister highlighted that When the pandemic descended, and South Africa went into lockdown to halt its spread, The economy was already in recession. Subsequent downgrades by Rating agencies sunk the economy further. Then the pandemic sounded a death knell in a climate beleaguered by inhibiting high cost of electricity. "Therefore, the reliance of the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan on our ability to secure a reliable and affordable supply of energy. Our Plan must, however, transcend the pre- Covid-19 level to grow the economy on par with our country’s development".
He also highlighted that Expanding the country’s energy generation capacity is a priority intervention to support a rapid economic rebound central to saving livelihoods. his Department targets to deliver a total of sixteen thousand three hundred and thirteen megawatts (16 313 MW), from a mix of energy sources.
He said this includes:
- Procurement of two thousand megawatts (2000 MW) of emergency power to meet the short-term electricity supply gap. We issued a Request for Proposals and Bid Submissions are closing soon. Power procured will be fully operational and connected to the national grid by June 2022.
- Procurement of eleven thousand eight hundred and thirteen megawatts (11 813 MW) from various energy sources: six thousand eight hundred megawatts (6 800MW) from renewables - PV and Wind), five hundred and thirteen megawatts (513 MW) from storage, three thousand megawatts (3 000 MW) from gas, and one thousand five hundred megawatts (1 500 MW) from coal. For this purpose, we Gazetted the Section 34 Ministerial Determinations with the intention to urgently connect new generation capacity to the national grid. Request for Proposals will be issued in December 2020 to enable the opening of various bid windows, including Bid Window 5 of renewable energy.
- Issuing of the Request for Information (RFI) for two thousand five hundred megawatts (2 500MW) for the nuclear build programme. Responses from the market are currently being evaluated.
Immediately, the Department has enabled ninety-seven megawatts (97 MW) of self- generation for own use,
- through a Gazetted amendment of Schedule 2 of the Electricity Regulation Act, to exempt categories of generation facilities under one megawatt (1MW) and resellers from the requirement to hold a generation licence. NERSA has already registered one hundred and fifty-six (156) self-generation facilities under one megawatt (1MW) with a total installed capacity of seventy-two megawatts (72MW).
- through effecting the provision for distributed generation in the IRP 2019 for facilities of one megawatt (1MW) and above, thereby removing the need for Ministerial approval for deviation from the IRP before NERSA can process a generation license application. To date, NERSA has approved five (5) applications with a total capacity of twenty-five megawatts (25MW).
They have also Gazetted amendments to Electricity Regulations on new generation capacity to enable municipalities in good financial standing to develop their own power generation projects.
Recognising Eskom’s role in the electricity sector Government is working tireless to achieve significant systems improvement through the Eskom maintenance programme. Work is underway to achieve operational and financial stability at the entity. The process to separate and unbundle Eskom is progressing well in line with the Roadmap. These initiatives will complement efforts to secure energy supply for society.
The department has also considered the feasibility of natural gas for economic use in the South African market, which includes accelerating the exploration of our own natural gas for domestic gas feedstock. Mantashe also mentioned that
Government is focused in renewing investment in exploration, which is the lifeblood of mining, aimed at promoting the diversification of the economy.
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