The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has granted three licences to Klipfontein Solar Facility, Lieliehoek Solar Facility and Sonoblomo Solar Facility for the operation of electricity distribution facilities in Dealesville, in the Free State.

The Klipfontein facility involves a 33 kV operating voltage for 2.3 km, while the Lieliehoek facility involves a 33 kV operating voltage for 1.5 km.

The Sonoblo facility comprises a 33 kV operating voltage operation over 2 km.

Nersa granted generation licences to the three facilities in March 2022 as part of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy’s 25 preferred bidders under the fifth bid window of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme, following which the three facilities submitted their distribution licence applications to Nersa on November 29, 2022.

All facilities submitted revised applications on October 9 this year indicating that their applications were for connection lines from their generation facilities to the delivery points at the Klipfontein, Lieliehoek and Sonoblo substations, respectively.

The application for a licence to operate a distribution facility can only be lodged with Nersa if the applicants’ distribution facilities are built under a build, own and operate arrangement.

Meanwhile, Nersa has also approved an application by Vopak Terminal Durban for a sixth amendment to conditions of its licence to operate a storage facility in Farewell and King Sites, in Island View, KwaZulu-Natal.

To date, Nersa has amended the Vopak operation licence conditions five times, mainly owing to changes in the licencees’ storage capacity.

Vopak now intends to add two storage tanks, each with a design capacity of 4 233 m³, into the licence conditions and remove seven storage tanks, each with a design capacity of 1 500 m³, from the licence conditions.

The company stores diesel and petrol that is typically received from berths in Island View through various marine loading facilities and auxiliary pipelines.

The fuels are then discharged by road and through pipelines for Transnet and into Vopak’s sister company, Vopak South Africa Development, in the Lesedi local municipality, Gauteng.