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President Cyril Ramaphosa has indicated that there is no intention of overhauling the Energy Action Plan he unveiled in July last year, even while acknowledging that “many of the measures in the plan will not be felt in the immediate term” and that loadshedding will, thus, continue.

Writing in his weekly newsletter following a week of consultative meetings on the electricity crisis with various social partners and the National Energy Crisis Committee (NECOM), which he chairs, the President said he had used the meetings to underline “the importance of staying the course, instead of coming up with unsustainable short-term solutions”.

“Six months ago I announced a national Energy Action Plan to improve the performance of Eskom’s power stations and add new generation capacity as quickly as possible.

“This plan was the result of extensive consultation and was endorsed by energy experts as the most realistic path towards ending loadshedding,” the President writes.

Many of the measures, would not be felt in the immediate term, however.

“We must be realistic about our challenges and about what it is going to take to fix them. While we all desperately want to, we cannot end loadshedding overnight.”

He made no reference in the newsletter to his reported request to Eskom to halt the implementation of the 18.65% tariff increase, which was recently sanctioned by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa.

Such an intervention, while popular, would further weaken Eskom’s financial ability to respond to the crisis, including to implement the Energy Action Plan’s goal of recovering the performance of the under-maintained coal fleet, as well as to beef up security around Eskom’s assets, which have become hotbeds of corruption and crime, including sabotage.

Speaking on Radio 702, Eskom chairperson Mpho Makwana denied the President had requested Eskom to halt the hike, but had rather requested the utility to assess ways to “absorb the impact of the 18.65%”.

"We have indicated that we have a number of brilliant minds on our board that will look at all means possible to ease the pain. We are sympathetic to South Africans," Makwana said, adding that it would report back to NECOM on possible mechanisms to limit the impact of the tariff increase.

Should the increase, which is due for implementation on April 1, be moderated, it is possible that Eskom may need to approach the National Treasury for support over-and-above the regular injections already being received to sustain the State-owned company as a going concern.

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has already rebuffed the utility’s attempt to secure money to purchase additional diesel, but is expected to announce details of a debt-relief package in his February Budget.

Godongwana indicated in October that between one-third and two-thirds of Eskom’s near R400-billion debt could be transferred from Eskom to the National Treasury.

In his newsletter, meanwhile, Ramaphosa says he is aware that “everyone is fed up” with loadshedding, but insists that, by implementing the Energy Action Plan, loadshedding will steadily become less severe.

“That is why we are using every means at our disposal, calling on every resource we have, to get power onto the grid as a matter of extreme urgency.”

There is a big focus, he indicates, on improving plant performance, particularly at the six underperforming power stations of Kendal, Matla, Majuba, Duvha, Tutuka and Kusile.

The day before the newsletter was published, Eskom released details of a board- and shareholder-approved generation recovery plan to deliver more than 6 000 MW of Eskom generation over the coming two years.

The maintenance-led initiative aims to recover Eskom’s energy availability factor (EAF) from an average for the current financial year of 58% to a nominal 60% by the end of March. The goal is then to progressively increase the average EAF to 65% by the end of March 2024 and to 70% by the end of March 2025.

Engineering consultant WSP Africa hav...

Eskom will approach the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) for an exemption to allow it to temporarily bypass the flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) units at the Kusile power station in an effort to reintroduce 2 160 MW of production, months earlier than would be the case absent such an exemption.

Kusile Units 1, 2 and 3 have been out of service since October 23 after the flue duct at Unit 1 failed as a result of the duct bend collapsing, owing to excessive weight of slurry deposited in the flue.

The incident also compromised the adjacent Unit 2 and 3 flue duct bends, making all three units inoperable, which has precipitated an intensification of loadshedding by two stages.

It is currently estimated that a full repair, which will involve increasing the height of the smokestacks to 90 m, could take 18 months.

However, Eskom aims to introduce temporary flues for the three units to enable an earlier return to service, while the longer-term solution is implemented on the common chimney.

COO Jan Oberholzer indicated during a briefing on January 22 that the design for the temporary stacks had been completed and that it would be technically possible to bypass the FDGs and, thus, reintroduce the units about eight months earlier.

However, a temporary exemption would be required from the DFFE to enable it to bypass the air-pollution control system, which has been a regular source of trips at Kusile, and Oberholzer confirmed that Eskom would be making a formal request to the DFFE in this regard.

The move is likely to face some resistance from environmental groups, but the authorities are likely to prove sympathetic given growing public anger over power cuts and even some legal demands for Eskom to immediately halt loadshedding.

After South Africa’s worst-ever year for rotational power cuts in 2022, loadshedding has already been implemented on every day of 2023 so far, at times at Stage 6, and the outlook for the rest of the year remains bleak.

The recovery of the three Kusile units, as well as the synchronisation to the grid of Kusile Unit 5 later this year, forms part of a larger board- and shareholder approved generation recovery plan to deliver more than 6 000 MW of Eskom generation over the coming two years.

Besides the rebuilding of Medupi Unit 4, which is out of service owing to a hydrogen explosion, much of the recovery is expected to arise from the six underperforming coal stations of Kendal, Matla, Majuba , Duvha , Tutuka and Kusile.

Acting generation executive Thomas Conradie reported that the intention was to add 6 274 MW over a 24-month period, including 1 862 MW in the coming six months, an additional 1 530 MW in 12 months, 1 818 MW in 18 months and an additional 1 064 MW in 24 months.

The board operations performance committee had requested the appointment of WSP Africa to monitor and report on the implementation of what is described as a “complex project management exercise”.

Loadshedding would still be required over the period, however, to create “headroom” for the maintenance required to stabilise the coal fleet and raise Eskom’s energy availability factor (EAF).

The average year-to-date EAF has been about 58% (with the coal fleet operating at an average EAF of about 52%) to a nominal 60% by the end of March. The goal is then to increase the average EAF to 65% by the end of March 2024 and to 70% by the end of March 2025.

The briefing exposed a divergence between the board and the executives over the implementation of loadshedding, with chairperson Mpho Makwana indicating that there would be “permanent Stage 2 or 3 loadshedding for the next two years in order to give sufficient space for maintenance” and the executives indicating that higher stages would probably be required at times, while no loadshedding would be implemented if there was sufficient energy available to avoid such cuts.

Following the briefing Eskom indicated that it could not guarantee that loadshedding would remain at between St...

The National Energy Crisis Committee (NECOM), which is overseeing the implementation of the National Energy Plan announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in July, presented a ‘Roadmap to end Loadshedding’ to various partners and stakeholders this week.

The presentation has not been formally released and the committee is yet to make a public briefing. It is, thus, possible that the roadmap presented will be adjusted, particularly given intensive recent discussions on the crisis and reports that Ramaphosa had “locked NECOM in a room” this week with an instruction to find solutions.

The roadmap presented covers this year and next, as well as the period after 2024 and outlines what energy and capacity could be injected over the period as a result of the various interventions that have been announced as part of the Energy Action Plan.

Besides assuming that 6 000 MW could be introduced over the coming two years as a result of an improved performance from Eskom’s coal fleet, especially from Tutuka, Kendal, Duvha, Majuba, Medupi and Kusile, the roadmap indicates that 8 822 MW could be added this year from other sources.

Notably the roadmap makes no reference, however, to securing additional diesel for the open-cycle gas turbines, despite a renewed call from business for government to fund Eskom’s diesel use to reduce loadshedding stages in the short term.

Eskom has already more than exhausted its diesel budget for the current financial year and the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has granted Eskom revenue of R8.4-billion for the coming financial year, beginning on April 1, against an Eskom request for R16.9-billion.

The specific interventions outlined for 2023 outside of the generation recovery plan under way at Eskom include sourcing:

2 880 MW from the recovery of Kusile Units 1, 2 and 3, as well as the completion of Unit 5. Currently, three Kusile units are offline following the October 23 structural collapse of the chimney duct, which is forecast to take months to repair;

up to 1 625 MW arising from imports from neighbouring countries;

1 597 MW from private embedded generation projects;

1 350 MW from the standard offer and emergency generation programme;

some 850 MW from rooftop solar;

about 250 MW arising from demand-response and energy-efficiency programmes;

some 200 MW from the first phase of Eskom battery roll-out; and

70 MW arising from existing independent power producers (IPPs) with surplus energy.

During 2024, the roadmap estimates that a further 8 665 MW could be injected from municipal procurement (1 500 MW); emergency power projects (775 MW); bid window five renewables projects (794 MW), additional demand response (1 200 MW), the procurement of IPP battery storage (513 MW); the return to service of Medupi Unit 4 and the completion of Kusile Unit 6 (1 520 MW); additional embedded generation (2 125 MW) and Eskom just transition and battery projects (238 MW).

Beyond 2024, the roadmap indicates that more than 29 000 MW could be added from various public and private procurement initiatives.

The presentation also insists that the Energy Action Plan, which has been operationalised to include nine workstreams, provides a clear way out of this crisis.

It acknowledges, however, that the electricity system will remain under pressure in the short term, which, given the current public mood, is likely to add further pressure on Eskom and government as the backlash against loadshedding intensifies.

The presentation also highlights measures that should be taken to accelerate the implementation of the Energy Action Plan, including six specific actions to add new capacity in the short-term, namely:

improving Eskom plant performance through the ‘Generation Recovery Plan’;

the procurement of emergency power, for which no details are provided but which is likely to be seen as code for powerships;

the import of additional power from neighbouring countries;

the finalisation of a feed-in tariff and net-metering guidelines “to...

Engineering News editor Terence Creamer outlines the reasons for power utility Eskom having to implement high levels of loadshedding so far this year; some of the short-term interventions that are being discussed; possible medium- and longer-term solutions that should be considered; the proposed move of Eskom from the Department of Public Enterprises to the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy; and when South Africans are likely to be informed about the solutions government intends to pursue to resolve the electricity supply disruptions.

EDF Renewables in South Africa reports that construction of its third wind project selected during the much-delayed fifth bid window (BW5) of government’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) is under way after the 140 MW Coleskop project reached financial and commercial close on January 18.

Senior debt for the R3.5-billion project is being provided by Standard Bank, ABSA, Investec and Momentum Metropolitan.

The project forms part of the 420 MW Koruson 1 portfolio that also includes the Phezukomoya and San Kraal wind projects, which achieved financial close on November 10.

The three projects are 140 MW apiece and are located near Middelburg, in the Umsombomvu local municipality, on the boundary of the Eastern Cape and Northern Cape provinces.

The projects were named together with 22 others as preferred bidders in October 2021, following the resumption of the REIPPPP, which had been disrupted for seven years after the previous Eskom leadership refused to sign power purchase agreements for projects legally procured in 2014.

However, BW5 subsequently experienced serious delays of its own, having been concluded ahead of the surge in renewables costs that arose as a result of several Covid lockdowns in China and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In September last year, EDF Renewables and its partners, H1 and Gibb-Crede, were the first to signed BW5 project agreements with Eskom and the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy for the Koruson 1 projects.

By December, a total of 19 other projects had followed suite and were given until the end of March this year to reach financial close.

EDF Renewables in South Africa CEO Tristan de Drouas said the Coleskop project was expected to enter commercial operation by the beginning of 2025 and would sell power to Eskom under a 20-year power purchase agreement.

As with the Phezukomoya and San Kraal projects, the Coleskop project will comprise 26 wind turbines, being supplied by Goldwind, with hub heights of 124 m and blade lengths of 83 m. South African construction firm WBHO is the contractor for the balance of plant.

EDF Renewables is also constructing the Koruson Main Transmission Substation on behalf of Eskom, under a self-build agreement, which will be transferred to the utility upon completion.

The company, which is a subsidiary of France’s EDF Renewables, says the Koruson 1 projects will create 590 jobs during the two-year construction period and 50 full-time jobs during the operation.

“Approximately 40% of the project value will comprise local content, and during operations, 1.2% of revenue generated by the projects will be applied to socio-economic development initiatives for nearby local communities.”

The South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) is hoping to convince Eskom to conduct an independent technoeconomic assessment of whether there is potential to extract more capacity from the constrained grid in the Cape provinces after none of the 23 wind projects that participated in the most recent public procurement round were appointed as a preferred bidder.

In December, Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe announced the appointment of only six utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) projects, with a combined capacity of just 860 MW, as preferred bidders, following Bid Window Six (BW6) of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP).

This, despite the round having been expanded from 2 600 MW to 4 200 MW as part of announcements made by President Cyril Ramaphosa in July to combat intensifying loadshedding.

In fact, the round had initially been doubled to 5 200 MW, but the Ministerial determinations to allow for the procurement of 2 000 MW of solar PV were not in place, so BW6 was reduced by 1 000 MW to 4 200 MW, with 3 200 MW set aside for wind, for which determinations were in place.

The failure to appoint any wind projects was attributed to an unavailability of grid capacity in the Eastern, Northern and Western Cape provinces, where all the projects are located.

It emerged that capacity deemed to be available ahead of BW6 had been subsequently reserved for projects being pursued by independent power producers (IPPs) that were being developed on the basis of private power purchase agreements.

SAWEA CEO Niveshen Govender tells Engineering News that its members want an independent assessment of the grid constraints in the Cape provinces to assess whether there are technical solutions available to immediately unlock additional grid capacity, or commercially viable ways to implement grid sharing.

Should solutions emerge, the association could then request the IPP Office to consider launching an “expedited bid window”, through which wind projects frozen out by the grid constraints have an opportunity to bid again.

As things stand, projects that could be delivering about 10 TWh of electricity yearly within the next 24 to 36 months are side-lined, despite intensifying loadshedding.

Govender says a meeting has been scheduled with Eskom and reports that SAWEA members are more than willing to fund the study, which could be implemented by the Eskom system operator.

Strong views have already emerged on either side of the debate, with some warning of costly curtailment should grid sharing be pursued, and others arguing that grid capacity is still available in areas where Eskom says it is not and that only limited curtailment is likely, especially if allocations are made on a timely basis.

Debates are also emerging over the effectiveness of battery energy storage in augmenting the grid, even though there is a growing acceptance that batteries can definitely ease pressure in certain areas and provide vital ancillary services.

SAWEA also intends to engage with Eskom and the IPP Office on the grid-access rules that will govern both future public procurement rounds and the private projects.

It will also be seeking an update from Eskom on the implementation of the Transmission Development Plan, which is theoretically geared towards adding the grid capacity required to unlock new generation capacity, including in the Cape provinces, where South Africa’s best wind resources are located.

“We believe that there is space for both public and private procurement and that the grid-access rules should not discriminate in favour of one over the other.

“However, we need the rules to be fair and transparent and there also needs to be regular communication when circumstances are changing,” Govender says.

During BW6, there had been no updates from Eskom after the Generation Connection Capacity Assessment, which guided bidders on what grid capacity was available, was published, even when developers of ...

The Energy Intensive Users Group (EIUG) has confirmed that its large mining and industrial members have a 4 GW-plus pipeline of generation projects that can be connected to the grid over the next five years to help close the electricity supply gap. However, it argues that other supply- and demand-side interventions are urgently required to reduce the intensity of both loadshedding and load curtailment.

“We are of the view that Eskom and government alone will not be able to resolve these issues soon and, hence, other options need to be explored considering that this is a crisis and business-as-usual contributions are no longer adequate,” CEO Fanele Mondi tells Engineering News.

Mondi believes there is particular potential for South Africa to support an “aggressive roll-out” of rooftop solar in the commercial and residential sectors over the short-term and that this should be incentivised as a priority intervention.

Rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, he argues, are not constrained by the same permitting, funding and grid-access delays that are currently afflicting utility scale projects.

In December, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy announced that only six utility-scale PV projects, with a combined capacity of just 860 MW, had advanced to preferred-bidder status, following a bidding round that had been expanded to procure 4 200 MW of both PV and wind projects. Not one of the 23 wind projects that bid for the round’s 3 200 MW wind allocation was appointed, owing to grid constraints.

“Economic incentives and net metering will help to expedite the roll-out to reach a stage where Eskom’s pumped-storage schemes can be topped up from new rooftop PV generation, which will have a positive double whammy effect on the current situation.”

Eskom already has net-billing tariffs for agriculture, commercial and industrial customers that provide a credit for energy exported at the same energy rate the customer pays for consumption.

However, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) still needs to approve the residential tariff, dubbed Homeflex, which will allow Eskom to offer net-billing to residential customers.

Eskom has also finalised its standard offer, which extends a three-year price for the purchase of power and it is understood the recent tariff hike approved by Nersa includes revenue specifically for this offer, which could evolve into a national feed-in tariff in future.

In a recent update, the National Energy Crisis Committee (NECOM) indicated that the standard offer had the potential to secure 1 600 MW in the near-term.

Mondi believes there is also potential for large power users to undertake co-ordinated maintenance so as to manage demand in a way that provides Eskom with space to do the maintenance the utility needs to perform to improve the energy availability factor of its coal power stations.

In parallel, however, the EIUG says action needs to be taken to expedite the execution of public and private generation projects, including by strengthening and expanding the grid and ancillary services to maximise renewable energy penetration and by removing any remaining regulatory constraints.

Mondi also believes more could be done to encourage investment in energy storage through financial incentives and by creating ancillary service products to be sold to the system operator.

“This can be used to reduce demand during peak periods and stabilise the grid.”

Given that EIUG members collectively account for over 40% of the electrical energy consumed, the organisation also has strong views on the possible demand-side instruments that could be deployed.

“Demand-side management is the fastest and cheapest response, and the previous demand-side management programme was successful in saving significant energy, which eased the pressure on the grid, allowing for lower stages of load shedding and/or space for maintenance,” Mondi highlights.

To be effective, however, the EIUG says the measures need to be economica...

In 2023, French car maker Peugeot aims for 100% of the vehicles in its range to be electrified.

Over the course of the next two years, it will also launch five new fully electric models.

The term ‘electric’ refers to battery electric vehicles (BEVs), while the term ‘electrified’ also includes hybrids and plug-in-hybrids.

“Peugeot is committed to the electrification of its range,” says Peugeot brand CEO Linda Jackson.

“Our ambition is simple: to make Peugeot the leading electric brand in Europe by 2030.

“This objective and ambitious vision pave the way for a radical transformation of the brand. It is embodied in the Peugeot Inception Concept [vehicle] which marks the beginning of a new era.”

Stellantis, the local distributor of the Peugeot brand, notes that the range of powertrains available in South Africa will depend on “regulations, opportunities and market specificities”.

The company adds that while there is a strong push toward electric vehicles in Europe, Peugeot will still offer hybrids and internal combustion engines to other markets, such as South Africa.

However, that does not mean that South Africa will miss out of the electric revolution.

“We have a variety of electric models in various stages of planning and testing, with a view of local availability starting in the short term and ramping up,” says a spokesperson for Stellantis South Africa.

Inception Concept

Peugeot says its Inception concept vehicle “heralds a new era and embodies the brand's vision for future electric vehicles”.

It is designed on one of the four future Stellantis group BEV-by-design platforms, set to arrive from this year onwards.

Specifically created for electrification, these platforms offer major differences in terms of architecture, with designers leveraging these changes to reshape the passenger compartment.

The 100% electric Inception is equipped with 800 V technology. Its 100 kWh battery enables it to travel 800 km on a single full charge.

The battery charges the equivalent of 30 km of range in one minute, or 150 km in five minutes.

The vehicle can be recharged by induction.

In a response to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (Nersa’s) recent decision to grant tariff increases of 18.65% and 12.74% respectively for Eskom’s 2024 and 2025 financial years, the utility indicated that the hikes would be implemented on April 1 once the regulator “made a decision on the restructuring of its tariffs, as submitted during August 2020 and 2022”. Engineering News editor Terence Creamer approached Eskom GM for regulation Hasha Tlhotlhalemaje and corporate specialist for electricity pricing Shirley Salvoldi for an explanation on the implications of the statement, including whether the increases might not be implemented in the absence of tariff restructuring. Tlhotlhalemaje and Salvoldi’s responses are outlined below.

Engineering News: Does the statement imply that there is a risk that the decision will not be implemented unless the tariffs are first restructured, or can the increases be implemented under the current tariff structure?

Eskom: In the absence of the approval on the restructuring of the tariff by Nersa, the revenue decision can still be implemented using the current tariffs and structures.

What are the implications of implementing in the absence of tariff restructuring?

None of the restructured elements will be implemented, meaning that tariffs will not be aligned to divisional costs and will not reflect the different services being provided in a cost-reflective way. This will expose Eskom to volume risk. However, Eskom can still recover its allowable revenue by applying the increase to the existing tariffs.

Is it feasible for Nersa to decide on the tariff structure in time for implementation?

It is feasible to make a decision by end-January or middle-February. All the consultations have taken place. The recommendation was prepared for the Electricity Subcommittee (ELS) during 2022. However, Nersa required a further workshop before finalising. It seems that certain proposals of the restructuring were acceptable to certain ELS members and others were not. Thus, it is possible that a few proposals will be approved.

By when will Nersa have to have made the tariff restructuring decision, if it is to be implemented on April 1?

Mid-February at the latest.

How do you respond to concerns raised that the proposed tariff restructuring, including the proposal to charge Eskom customers a fixed monthly cost to remain grid connected, could have a chilling effect on new solar installations?

Eskom believes that the tariff structures as proposed send the correct economic signals and with the 18% increase the argument that it will make solar not viable has not been proven.

What are the potential implications for FY2024 given that the National Energy Crisis Committee (NECOM) is talking about implementing either net billing and/or a feed-in tariff (FIT)?

Eskom already has net-billing tariffs being used by agriculture, commercial and industrial customers (called Gen-Offset) and these tariffs provide a credit for energy exported at the same energy rate the customer pays for consumption. Nersa still needs to approve the residential tariff Homeflex, which then will allow Eskom to offer net-billing to residential customers as well, and there is also work being done to establish a national net-billing framework which was proposed in the draft Electricity Pricing Policy. On the FIT, Eskom has in place the standard offer, which we are planning to implement soon. The offer gives a three-year price for the purchase of power and Eskom will still need to ascertain how much was approved by Nersa for this programme. Further to this, work is also being done to expand the standard offer into an FIT and to establish what legislation and rules would be required to make this a national scheme.

Did Nersa set aside revenue for standard offer purchases and additional regional imports?

The standard offer was included in Eskom’s application. Indications are that they have been approved. It is deduced that only the risk mitigati...

State-owned energy utility Eskom says it appreciates the tough tariff decision made by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years, for which the utility has been granted tariff increases of 18.65% and 12.74%, respectively.

The utility says it is confident the decision will positively contribute from a financial and sustainability point of view, while the revenue determination of R319-billion and R352-billion for the financial years, respectively, will allow a further migration towards a price level that reflects the efficient cost of producing electricity.

Eskom has also apologised for the extent of loadshedding, saying it understands the severe impact it has on businesses and individuals.

However, representatives from the business, labour and government spheres have expressed outrage over the persistent tariff increases that seem to lead nowhere.

For South Africans, there is no escape from spiralling electricity prices and increased loadshedding, as customers are expected to shore up the country’s failed electricity utility, comments the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa).

Although the 2023/24 financial year’s grant came in below the 32% hike that Eskom requested, it is still well above the inflation-linked levels that most stakeholders believe should have been implemented.

Outa says Eskom is experiencing huge pressure to improve its energy availability factor to above 65% to meet the regulator’s conditions, while not being given the full extent of its 32% tariff increase application.

The tariff increase is applicable for Eskom’s direct customers, including municipalities, from April 1, while the increase from the municipalities’ side will kick in from July.

Outa, which formally requested Nersa to grant Eskom only a maximum consumer price index tariff increase, says it is outraged at government’s failure to help South Africans weather this storm.

The organisation believes government, particularly Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe can do better to fast-track independent power producer (IPP) procurement, instead of leaving Eskom with no choice but to use expensive diesel-powered open-cycle gas turbine generators to reduce loadshedding.

While it is unclear what Nersa will do if Eskom does not meet its energy availability requirement, Outa Parliamentary adviser Liz McDaid says it is encouraging that Nersa is pushing Eskom on this.

Outa commends Eskom for acknowledging that corruption adds to the breakdowns at coal-fired power stations, but believes more urgent and decisive efforts to address corruption are needed.

Meanwhile, the Midvaal local municipality comments that the price of electricity has risen by more than 500% in the past 16 years, with Eskom continuing to receive billions of rands in bailouts, and, yet, South Africans currently face not having electricity for up to nine hours a day.

On top of this, the municipality explains that increased loadshedding stages have an adverse effect on the municipality’s electricity infrastructure and network, including equipment failures and increased instances of cable theft.

The municipality is in the process of getting an embedded generation policy in place, which will result in the municipality introducing a feed-in tariff for solar users to supply energy into the grid. It encourages more municipalities to consider this route.

Representing the broader voice of local government, South African Local Government Association says consumer debt to municipalities stands at R289-billion as it stands, without the impending tariff increase. The association deems the current electricity model - of municipalities putting a mark-up on Eskom's direct supply of electricity and then selling to households - as fundamentally flawed.

The association is advocating for legislative reforms that will enable municipalities to generate their own electricity and purchase electricity from IPPs.

Moreover, SALGA would like to see m...