SA Affordable Housing May - June 2020 // ISSUE: 82 | Page 9
NEWS
It’s time to prepare for the expanding
renewable energy sector
One of the major constraints on new large-scale
affordable housing projects, is the strain on the
national Eskom grid. With Eskom announcing in
February this year, the possibility of load shedding over the
next 18 months, South Africa’s energy situation is
precarious, says Janine Espin, Managing Director at EDS.
Because Eskom alone cannot supply the R1-trillion
investment in power generation, transmission and
distribution needed before 2030 in terms of the Integrated
Resource Plan (IRP), private sector participation will be
essential. As such, our focus on the supply of renewable
energy by
Independent Power
Producers (IPPs) needs
to intensify. However,
this will require the
obstacles that
currently hinder
private sector energy
solutions to be
removed, in order to
give the renewable
energy sector the
space it needs to
grow.
Renewable energy
holds great promise
for South Africa, and
Janine Espin, managing director at EDS. since its inception in
EDS
2011, the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer
Procurement program has planned for the creation of 38 701
full-time jobs and a contribution of more than USD14-billion
in private sector investment in South Africa, according to
Minister of Energy Jeff Radebe, as 102 IPP projects have been
procured from four bidding round windows with the
announcement of the fifth window hotly awaited.
“After many years of debate, the Integrated Resource Plan
was finally published by the Department of Energy in 2019.
Although there is concern that the Plan is inadequate in a
number of aspects, these concerns must be viewed through
the prism of a handful of developments. The first being the
encouragement for IPPs to bring forward the new renewables
commissioning date from 2025 to 2022, along with an
increase in the annual allocation for large-scale corporate
power purchase agreements. Additionally, an annual
commissioning of 1.6GW of wind energy between 2022 and
2030 has been introduced, which is anticipated to create as
many as 16 000 direct jobs annually over the eight-year
period,” says Espin.
“While there is no indication as to when the fifth round of
bidding is due to start for companies to submit their
proposals for consideration by the Department of Energy,
IPPs and companies in related industries should not lose
hope or sit idle. Due to the fact that these IPP projects can
have such a positive impact on unemployment in surrounding
rural areas and contribute to the strengthening of our power
position and ultimately our economy - IPPs should be using
the time to prepare.”
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
A wind farm in the Eastern Cape.
www.saaffordablehousing.co.za MAY - JUNE 2020 7