- South Africa’s energy regulator, NERSA, has clarified their decision and reasons for decision RfD on Eskom’s application for grid capacity preservation and/or reservation for section 34 IPPs.
- The regulator has also approved the publication of NERSA’s consultation paper on Eskom’s application for congestion curtailment to be treated as a constrained generation ancillary service
The Energy Regulator did not approve Eskom’s application in terms of section 21(2) of the Electricity Regulation Act, 2006 (Act No. 4 of 2006) to preserve and/or reserve grid connection capacity in favour of public Independent Power Producers (IPPs) emanating from ministerial section 34 determinations, in anticipation of the upcoming Bid Window 7 procurement process at the expense of private IPP projects.
The application was not approved for the following reasons:
- Eskom has not identified the specific customers, or classes of customers, that it intends to discriminate against, which is required for the Energy Regulator to approve the application.
- Eskom did not present objectively justifiable and identifiable differences regarding such customers, which is required for the Energy Regulator to approve the application.
Paper approval on congestion curtailment
The Energy Regulator approved the publication of the consultation paper on Eskom’s application for congestion curtailment to be treated as a constrained generation ancillary service. This will allow Eskom to compensate all Renewable Energy Power Plants (RPPs) (public and private) for all the energy that is curtailed because of grid congestion.
Download the paper HERE
Stakeholders can send written comments to congestioncurtailment@nersa.org.za. The closing date for the submission of comments is 5 August 2024. The Consultation Paper is available on the NERSA website at www.nersa.org.za.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
