South Africa is on the cusp of a fundamental transformation in the electricity sector, which is undergoing the most significant reform process in the country\u2019s history, says president Cyril Ramaphosa.<\/p>\n
Answering in a parliamentary Q&A session, Ramaphosa said that once these changes are implemented, the country will have multiple generators competing with Eskom to supply electricity at the lowest cost and sell power directly to customers.<\/p>\n
“We will unleash new public and private sector investment in generation capacity at a massive scale. In the short term, however, we are seized with the need to get as much new generation capacity onto the grid as possible, as quickly as possible.” The current electricity shortfall is estimated at up to 6,000 MW, Ramaphosa said.<\/p>\n
The president added that government plans to\u00a0close the electricity gap in six ways:<\/p>\n
Ramaphosa also confirmed that the government was finalising new legislation which will see the separation of Eskom into separate operating units.<\/p>\n
“The Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill provides for the establishment of a separate transmission company and a competitive market for electricity has been published for comment. We are working to table the final version in Parliament in the coming months,” he said.<\/p>\n
The government is also making progress in signing deals with independent power producers, he said.<\/p>\n
“In April, Bid Window 6 of the renewable energy procurement programme was opened for 2,600MW of solar and wind power. The first three risk mitigation projects have signed their power purchase agreements.<\/p>\n
“These projects represent some of the largest hybrid solar and battery storage projects in the world.”<\/p>\n