Page 10 - AfrElec Week 27

AfrElec
NEWS IN BRIEF
AfrElec
METERING
Egypt begins
implementation plan to
replace 28.8m electricity
meters with bill system
Egyptian distribution companies have started to implement the plan to replace the old meters which operate by the invoice system, with an electric prepaid plan.
Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) said that it currently operated 28.8mn meters, including 22.9mn mechanical meters, and 5.9m digital meters. ey will be replaced by the pre-paid meters instead.
Distribution companies are to install pre- paid meters for all new contracts or when the name of a consumer changes, as well as when the capacity of a meter increases, or in the case where a meter stops unpaid dues.
e Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy began installing 2.5mn pre-paid meters in 2016. e installed meters in 2017 amounted to 4.7mn, and in 2018 the number rose to 6.9mn meters. It is expected to install 9.1mn meters by the end of 2019.
e idea of the pre-paid electronic counter is based on charging the meter with a card- like mobile phone top-up cards.
e counters work with the same current rates in the electricity prices and are shipped according to the material value that the citizen wants.
e new meters aim to reduce the of electricity and rationalise consumption.
GENERATION
Ghana faces power cuts over unpaid bills
Six Ghanaian independent power producers (IPPs) that provide 1,500 MW of capacity have threatened to shut down their plants if Power Distribution Services (PDS) Limited fails to settle debts amounting to over $700mn within eight working days.
While acknowledging the negative impact a shutdown of power plants will have, they said they are le with no choice since they cannot continue to be saddled with huge debts.
e IPPs said that when PDS took over Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) March 1, 2019, the debt was $400mn.
ey said ever since PDS took over,
it has not paid them a dime, resulting in accumulation of another debt of over $300mn, bringing the total debt to over $700mn.
e companies, Sunon-Asogli Power (Ghana) Limited, BXC Solar Ghana, Cenit Energy Limited, Cenpower Generation Company Limited and Karpowership Ghana Company Limited – are members of the Chamber of Independent Power Producers and Bulk Consumers (CIPDIB).
Chief Executive O cer (CEO) of CIPDIB, Elikplim Kwabla Apetorgbor urged the government, through the Ministry of Energy, to compel PDS to clear the accumulated invoices presented by the IPPs within eight working days.
He also wants PDS to pay interest on all overdue invoices which the IPPs could have pro tably utilised.
He charged the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) to compel PDS to adhere to best business practices and respect the terms of the PPAs and ensure the nation derives the optimum bene t from the concession arrangement.
TARIFFS
Johannesburg shelves pre- paid electricity tariffs
e City of Johannesburg on July 9 announced that it was not going to implement xed monthly surcharge of ZAR200 ($14)
for pre-paid residential and ZAR402 ($28)
for business pre-paid customers, which was recently approved by the council as part of annual tari increases.
“ e City of Johannesburg will not be implementing the xed surcharge for pre-paid electricity as adopted by Council recently,” Funzela Ngobeni, a member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Finance, said.
Ngobeni said the council had approved surcharge which it said was aimed to “better align” pre-paid tari s to conventional tari s and was due to be implemented on 1 July 2019.
However, this has been suspended pending further engagement with all relevant stakeholders.
Ngobeni acknowledged that consumers were “already burdened by increasing interest rates, pressure on household disposable income and the sluggish economy.”
RENEWABLES
Nigeria’s renewable energy
sector gets $165 million
boost
Nigeria’s renewable energy sector is set
to receive a $16nn investment from the European Union for the country’s Renewable Energy Master Plan which will see the development of several projects.
Head of the EU’s delegation to Nigerian and the Economic Community of West African States, Ketli Karlsenn said the investment speaks to the EU’s continued support of the country’s e orts to further implement renewable energy in its energy mix.
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Week 27 10•July•2019