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Wind energy saved Eskom R300m, Sawea tells Molefe

19th May 2016

By: Anine Kilian

Contributing Editor Online

  

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The  South Africa Wind Energy Association (Sawea) is striking back at Eskom CEO Brian Molefe, who commented this week that renewables have “failed” the State power utility by not providing the necessary power to avoid load-shedding at the right time of day.

In a statement released on Thursday, (Sawea) chairperson Heather Sonn reminded Molefe that wind energy alone had saved Eskom R300-million during the first half of 2015 through avoided purchases of coal and diesel, and that a significant contribution was made by both wind and solar energy projects during peak load-shedding periods in that year.

“In her recent budget speech Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson hailed the government’s renewable-energy programme [as] an unprecedented success story,” said Sonn.

She further pointed out that the Minister had shared the latest figures showing that the contribution to the electricity grid from renewable energy developments in full operation was growing constantly and had now reached 16% of total energy produced in the peak periods of morning and evening in any 24-hour period.
   
Sonn added that the number of wind turbines in the country had multiplied in recent years from ten to 500 turbines over the past four years. Fourteen large wind farms were in operation, providing more than 1 GW of electricity to Eskom’s grid.
 
“In terms of cost, tariffs for wind energy in the most recent Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) bidding round were close to 50% lower than those predicted for Eskom’s new coal power stations,” she pointed out.
 
Sonn also noted that South Africa had an excellent wind resource, adding that more than 80% of the country’s land mass provided wind speeds high enough to deliver affordable, cost-competitive energy to the grid.
 
She pointed out that, statistically, wind had a far greater contribution over the evening peak.

“The daily energy demand profile for South Africa includes a morning peak that occurs between 05:00 to 09:00 in the morning and an evening peak that ranges from 17:00 to 21:00.  Research conducted by the CSIR shows wind speeds are usually highest during the morning and evening peak with a midday reduction in wind speed, at which point the benefits of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels come to the fore.”
 
Sonn highlighted that the South African REIPPPP had successfully managed to procure 6 377 MW of renewable energy to date, and had been hailed as a global success.

“Bid windows one to four have attracted R200-billion of private investment, with another R55-billion expected, with the 1 800 MW ‘expedited’ window four due to be announced in quarter two.

“[Further], shareholding for local communities has already reached an estimated net income of R29.2-billion over the 20 year-plus life span of the projects.”
 
Sonn added that projects from REIPPPP bid windows had committed to delivering 8 451 job years during the construction phase, but actual figures stood 70% higher at 14 334 new jobs.
 
“Recent figures also showed that the R30.7-billion spent on broad-based black economic-empowerment during construction of projects during the programme so far has already exceeded the R26.6-billion that had originally been anticipated,” she concluded.

Edited by Samantha Herbst
Creamer Media Deputy Editor

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