The key to beating load shedding: expert
Although solar generation is generally at the centre of the discourse on renewable energy, wind energy will be crucial for South Africa to overcome load shedding.
Since last week, South Africa has seen load shedding suspended or at lower stages for several reasons, including the increase in wind generation.
Eskom Generation Executive Eric Shunmagum said that winter storms over the last few weeks helped to boost the output of plants.
Speaking on 702, Brian Cunningham, C&I Development Manager at Red Rocket Energy, said that more than 3,4000 MW of wind energy is currently on the South African grid, which can power roughly 3.6 million average households.
Cunningham said that a major benefit of wind energy is that it generates power during peak times, such as 18h00 to 21h00, which solar cannot.
He added that the private sector has moved incredibly quickly into getting renewable energy, with large companies, like Sasol and Sibanye Gold, looking to lower their carbon credits.
In addition, interest spiked when the government relaxed the rules on independent producers selling directly to major power users.
Grid constraints
However, despite the growing interest in wind energy, the grid constraint is having a seriously detrimental effect on the introduction of wind energy, with further investment needed to boost infrastructure.
He said that farms in the Northern, Eastern and Western that have permits could produce thousands of MWs if the grid was not constrained.
“Someone needs to pay to basically build a whole new grid to relieve the capacity,” he said.
However, he said that once government improves its grid infrastructure and Eskom clearly explains how the grid will be divided, thousands of MW of further wind generation should be made available.
More potentially on the way
In May, environment minister Barbara Creecy said that her department was processing applications for nearly 10,000 MW of renewable energy.
The applications for wind energy could produce 6,890 megawatts – equating to over six stages of load shedding,
“We are working hard to cut the red tape and get these projects finalized,” Creecy said.
“We have reduced our decision-making time frames from 107 days to 57 days.”
Although a lack of grid infrastructure is usually a major constraint, the minister said that 15 assessments on environmental impact are currently under consideration for transmission and environmental infrastructure projects.
As reported by Reuters, electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said that 5,500 MW of renewable energy should come online by 2026.
Ramokgopa added that over 66,000 MW of wind and solar projects were being developed across the nation.
However, although renewables will be key to tacking load shedding, Hartmut Winkler, Professor of Physics, University of Johannesburg, said that solar and wind have efficiency issues.
Winkler said that the intermittency of sunshine and wind in South Africa means that they only produce on average 25% (solar) and 35% (wind) of what they can under ideal conditions.
Hence, the current national shortfall of 6,000 MW would require, if only using one source, 18,000 MW of wind or 24,000 MW of solar.
Read: Why load shedding got better – and not worse, as expected
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