The Civil Engineering Contractor February 2019 | Page 40

BUSINESS INTEL Three plans were prepared by consultants to deliver the same amount of power: the installed capacity in Plan C (the approved option) is 130GW, 3GW higher than B and 14GW lower than A. The overall cost of C is USD259-billion, only USD5-billion higher than B but USD36-billion (or 12%) lower than the Peter Robinson, director: Africa Region at Economic Consulting Associates and team leader of the consultants to the SAPP. investment costs, plus a small saving in operational costs, leading to overall savings of USD41-billion (14% of the total costs of Component A). “Component C introduces restrictions which makes it a more ‘realistic’ approach to regional integration: installed capacity has to be equal or above maximum demand by 2040, and large thermal plants are required to operate at or above minimum capacity factors. In comparing Components B and C, what is significant is that the realism restrictions do not make C much more expensive than B. In relation to the Benchmark Case, the Realistic Integration Case delivers almost the same cost savings as the Full Integration Case, while being much more acceptable as a basis for national planning.” Any savings are welcome The context of savings on power installed capacity is that the National Development Plan (NDP) states that “to achieve sustainable and inclusive growth by 2030, South Africa needs to invest in a strong network of 38 | CEC February 2019 total cost of A. economic infrastructure”. We are now 11 years away from the targets set for 2030, so now is the time to take stock of investments to date, current and planned infrastructure projects. The need for infrastructure investment and development has not gone away. In fact, it is more urgent than even when the NDP was drafted — built projects are vital levers which should be used to drive growth within the economy. Notwithstanding the country’s current economic climate, southern Africa still offers immense opportunity for investment and infrastructure development. What is needed, however, is a change in focus to leverage on opportunities that will show immediate economic contributions in the short term, without compromising their adaptability to incorporate new technologies. In this way, South Africa could effectively future-proof its infrastructure networks and ensure an attainable long-term vision of sustainable and inclusive growth. A total of USD106.6-million was exchanged among market players in 2017/18, compared to USD75.8- million exchanged in 2016/17. Only 34% of the available electricity was traded between the SAPP’s member states during 2016, this owing to the lack of transmission and distribution capacity in the region. The total electricity traded in the SADC region during 2016 was one million MW (worth USD76-million) out of a possible 2.8 million MW. Major transmission projects Transmission studies for all three plans assume that all country-internal projects necessary to integrate new generation projects are committed and therefore the focus is on identifying required interconnectors and their transfer limits. Transfer limits are conservatively set at peak demand. In the Benchmark Case, new interconnectors were limited to three: • Zimbabwe-South Africa portion of Mozisa •  Zimbabwe-Zambia portion of Zizabona • Zambia-Tanzania interconnection from Kabwe to Mbeya. The focus of the study in the benchmark case was therefore www.civilsonline.co.za