Energy
From The Report: South Africa 2016
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With the most energy-intensive economy on the continent, South Africa has undergone a spate of load shedding in recent years as demand for electricity continues to outstrip supply. While faltering output and poorly maintained infrastructure have had an adverse effect on the country’s economic performance, a range of government initiatives – notably the country’s independent power producer (IPP) bidding programme – should help strengthen long-term output and reduce the risk of volatility. As the country searches to find short-term solutions to plug power gaps in the national grid, policy implementation and a renewed focus on bringing the Medupi, Kusile and Ingula plants on-line will help to accelerate IPP programmes, curb load shedding and stabilise the broader power sector.

This chapter contains an interview with Brian Molefe, Group CEO, Eskom.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Adapt and evolve: While the country faces challenges in meeting demand for energy, various initiatives are helping to build supply
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With the most energy-intensive economy on the continent, South Africa has undergone a spate of load-shedding in recent years as demand continues to outstrip supply. However, while faltering output and under-maintained infrastructure have had an adverse effect on the country’s economic performance, a range of government initiatives, notably the country’s independent power producer (IPP) bidding programme, should help strengthen long-term output and reduce the risk of volatility. Power Generation South…

Interview

Closing the gap: OBG talks to Brian Molefe, Group CEO, Eskom
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Interview: Brian Molefe To what extent can power purchase agreements help improve the overall availability of supply? BRIAN MOLEFE: Eskom’s generation fleet has not been performing at optimal levels and therefore is not producing the power needed to meet rising demand. This, coupled with delays in new power plants coming on-line, has led to limited capacity. This required load shedding on a few occasions over the past year. Going forward, the generation fleet will require extensive maintenance…

Analysis

A new hope: An increased focus on tapping renewable sources should help combat load-shedding while diversifying the energy mix
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In April 2015 the minister of energy, Tina Joemat-Pettersson, announced 13 winning bids for the fourth round of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement (REIPPP) programme. The programme was established in 2011 to combat load-shedding, diversify the energy mix, curb emissions and encourage greater private participation in the sector. Including the fourth round awards, 5423 MW in projects have been approved in the last four years, resulting in $12.5bn worth of private investment.…

Analysis

Preparing for the future: South Africa is turning to liquefied natural gas to meet growing demand for energy
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As South Africa continues to face problems with load-shedding, government and industry stakeholders have turned towards liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a solution to meet demand. The country is also working to generate new capacity from coal-fired and renewable power plants. Options In June 2015 the Department of Energy announced that it was receiving preliminary proposals for the development of an LNG import facility. The main purpose of this initiative was to gauge private sector interest (170…