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As Eskom fails to keep unplanned breakdowns at below 9,500MW – the level at which it is forced to consider load shedding – since the start of December, there is growing pressure on government to fast-track renewable power projects.
Ntombifuthi Ntuli, CEO of the South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA), believes just by lifting the Maximum Export Capacity (MEC) on all operating wind farms, which governs how much energy is permitted to be exported by wind farm power generators to the grid, 500MW of energy could immediately be brought online.
According to the Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (IPPPP), 3,976MW of electricity generation capacity from 64 IPP projects has been connected to the national grid. Wind makes up the lion’s share providing 52% of renewable energy to the grid. Among the largest are 3 wind farms that contribute almost 140MW each.
IPPs are nowhere near the 36,400MW (41,000MW if you include Medupi and Kusile which aren’t finished yet) delivered by coal. But this picture could change quickly: unlike coal power stations, which take years to build – Medupi has been under construction since 2007 – renewable projects can be built quite quickly and there’s a good track record of them sticking to schedules.
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