Joburg’s big plan to shed load shedding is no ‘quick fix’
The City of Johannesburg’s council has given approval for a plan to go into a 20-year deal with independent power producers (IPPs) for new generation capacity; however, the plan has a lot of boxes that still need to be checked before it becomes a reality.
Hailed by city executives as “groundbreaking”, the plan to get the country’s largest metro and economic hub to cut the amount of energy it procures from Eskom by 5% in 2025 still has a long way to go, needing approval from the National Treasury, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa), the Department of Cooperative Governance & Traditional Affairs, and the Department of Mineral Resources.
In addition to being subject to these approvals, the city has not yet completed any negotiations with IPPs around procurement, saying that it wants to make sure that it is negotiating tariff rates that are below Eskom’s.
“These are long-term processes that we are embarking on,” said the city’s MMC for environment and infrastructure services, Jack Sekwaila, in an interview with the SABC.
Sekwaila said that this new “long-term process” is necessary because the city faces the threat of large-scale disinvestment.
“A lot of investors are calling us… on a daily basis [telling us that they are] wanting to leave to Johannesburg mainly because of the issue of energy security [in the city],” he said. “They will tell you that look, we are burning too much diesel… it’s unaffordable [and] we [are] thinking of closing shop.”
Last year, the city saw the short-term procurement of energy through a Short-Term Power Purchase Programme (STPPP) agreement from four IPPs, adding around 92MW to the city’s grid.
The MMC said that by 2030 to 2035, less than 60% of the city’s electricity will come from Eskom.
Additionally, City Power claims that it will have a slightly lower tariff for Johannesburg residents if it procures electricity from four independent power producers (IPPs). “Our finances are in bad shape; we feel that these IPPs…can bring about a solution very quickly,” said Sekwaila.
City Power is also implementing a number of other initiatives to try and reduce the impact of load-shedding. These include installing rooftop solar at over 700 sites, installing high mast solar public street lights, and increasing the number of solar water heating systems.
The City of Johannesburg has long been vocal about the detrimental effects rolling blackouts have on the metro. “One of the biggest utilities depending on power supply from Eskom, City Power is being severely affected by unprecedented load shedding,” it said.
“The reality is that both financial and operational damage is being done, and this will be felt even after load shedding stops.”
Read: Joburg rolling out load shedding project this month – what you need to know
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