South Africa announces that the size of the next round of renewable energy supply will be doubled to 5,200 MW

On Monday July 25, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced new measures to deal with the electricity crisis that the country is going through. He said the size of the next round of renewable energy supply will be doubled to 5,200 MW.

It is planned to abolish the requirement of a license for projects of more than 100 MW, in particular with regard to household demand, the reduction of administrative formalities which hinder the development of renewable energy projects and the purchase of surplus electricity from private producers. This, without declaring a state of electrical emergency as the opposition and civil society wanted.

He added that new legislation will be submitted to Parliament as soon as possible, in order to remove the remaining legal and regulatory obstacles to the urgent introduction of new production capacities.

“We will waive certain regulatory requirements or simplify them where possible, within the framework of existing legislation. This includes reducing regulatory requirements for solar projects in areas of low or medium environmental sensitivity. It also means that Eskom can extend power lines and substations without the need to obtain environmental clearance in areas of low or medium sensitivity and in strategic power corridors,” explained the leader.

This announcement comes in the wake of persistent power outages that highlight all the shortcomings of the South African electricity sector. A deleterious situation due in particular to aging infrastructure, particularly coal-fired power plants.