According to the Presidency, efforts are being made to make it easier for municipalities to purchase independent power.
On Tuesday, Presidency Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni stated that the government was making progress in facilitating municipalities’ acquisition of independent power and the reactivation of water quality monitoring systems.
The Energy Activity Plan, which President Cyril Ramaphosa declared in July last year, frames a make way to diminish the seriousness and recurrence of burden shedding temporarily and accomplish energy security in the drawn out through a basic change of the power area.
Ntshavheni said in a statement that one of the biggest successes in implementing energy reforms so far has been changing Schedule 2 of the Electricity Regulation Act to no longer require a license for any size generation project.
“In excess of 100 ventures are presently at different progressive phases, addressing over 10,000MW of new age limit and over R200bn of private area speculation.
“Second, expediting the acquisition of capacity for the next generation. Three ventures from the gamble relief program have entered development, with a further five tasks expected to arrive at monetary close during this quarter. According to Ntshavheni, project agreements have been signed for approximately 2,800MW from 25 preferred bidders from Bid Window 5 and 6, of which 784MW are already under construction.
The facilitation of municipalities’ acquisition of independent power is also making progress.
The unbundling of Eskom into separate entities for generation, transmission, and distribution is driving the living progress. The National Transmission Company of South Africa (NTCSA) has made significant progress toward becoming an independent Eskom subsidiary.
The NTCSA has applied to Nersa for electricity import and export, trading, and transmission licenses, with a decision anticipated shortly. She stated, “To ensure that the new entity can be operationalized as soon as possible, the appointment of a board for the NTCSA is being finalized in parallel with the license application.”
“Likewise, the 2023 financial plan acquainted R254bn in the red help with Eskom, dependent upon severe circumstances and, at long last, acquainting charge motivations with help limited scope implanted age.
“The priest of money [Enoch Godongwana] declared strong expense impetuses for organizations and families to put resources into roof sun based, where we are presently seeing an enormous flood of venture,” she said.
Ntshavheni stated that, in terms of controlling water resources, 70% of water use license applications were processed within the revised 90-day time frame, up from 35% in the first quarter of 2022. The water department is aiming for an additional improvement to 80% of all applications.
The Blue Drop, Green Drop, and No Drop water quality monitoring systems have been reinstituted, and the most recent reports will be made available in the upcoming quarter. She added, “This will enable intervention in areas where municipalities are failing to meet minimum norms and standards for water service delivery and provide a comprehensive assessment of the state of the water infrastructure at the municipal level.”