Progress of projects under Window 1 and 2 of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer programme are 95% on track. 350 MW of green power is expected to come on line in this financial year in addition to the current 600 MW.

According to Minister of Energy Tina Joemat-Pettersson, the Department of Energy (DoE) has been working towards financial closure for Bid Window 3. Guided by factors such as the volatility of the rand, and in consultation with National Treasury and the Reserve Bank, the DoE has opted to shift the date for financial close to November 2014. This will also allow Eskom to prepare adequately for the connection of these providers to the grid as planned.

Window 4 of the renewable energy independent power provider programme is on track, with the submission of proposals by August 2014. The scope will include new generation capacity though wind, solar, biomass and hydropower technologies, and will bring up to 1000 MW on stream.

 

Small scale projects

In August 2013 the department released the Small Projects Request for Proposals.  The Small Projects Programme seeks to procure energy from small-scale independent power producers (IPPs), with projects that are between 1 and 5 MW in size.  The Department seeks to buy 200 MW in total from SMMEs, generating energy from solar, wind, biomass and landfill gas projects.

According to Joemat-Pettersson, one of the biggest challenges regarding the small scale projects is that of providing equity.  The department has taken the initiative to develop standard documents for these projects to reduce transaction costs, and proposed a dedicated fund to assist small IPPs with transaction costs. This will ensure that new entrepreneurs can also enter the Renewable Energy IPP market.

“I want to give the small IPP entities and developers the assurance that the fund will be up and running by February 2015, in time for the second round,” said Joemat-Pettersson.