Stellenbosch University (SU), in the Western Cape, is conducting a study to examine grid capacity and determine ideal locations for renewable-energy projects that will support the grid.

The study is funded by global organisation the European Climate Foundation (ECF); SU reports on the results of the study to the ECF and State-owned power utility Eskom.

The study will assist Eskom in identifying areas where the grid needs to be reinforced, after which Eskom will implement these reinforcements as per the recommendations.

“Many opportunities are present in solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind energy, and we have opportunities for small-scale bioenergy projects that are largely overlooked.

“We also haven’t exploited energy storage systems to their fullest, as we can produce electricity from solar PV and wind energy and store it for later use, or for use when the system is constrained,” SU Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies director Professor Sampson Mamphweli tells Engineering News.

He says “opening up” the local electricity generation market to enable more independent role-players to compete in the local energy space is crucial.

The amendment of local energy regulations to enable municipalities to buy electricity from independent power producers (IPPs) has not yet yielded any results, owing to a lack of clarity on regulations and how these affect municipalities, Mamphweli comments.

He stresses that a significant challenge is municipalities’ not having clarity on what is required of them, as well as the regulations requiring that municipalities first seek approval from Department of Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe before buying electricity from IPPs. This approval is, however, not guaranteed.

It is also not clear whether municipalities can buy electricity from IPPs that are outside their municipal area. In this regard, the requirement for municipalities to produce a feasibility study assumes that the municipalities will buy electricity from IPPs that are within their municipal areas, he adds.

“Municipalities need to be workshopped on the regulations, as greater clarity is needed. The requirement for approval by the Minister also needs to be scrapped, as the requirement should be reduced to a mere notification of the Minister. Notification of the Minister should also come in addition to registration of the transaction to buy electricity with energy body the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa),” Mamphweli points out.

He describes the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa in June this year of an increase in the embedded generation threshold to 100 MW, without needing to apply for a licence from Nersa, as a “welcomed and progressive initiative”.