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AfrElec POLICY AfrElec

South Africa load-shedding can

be stopped by 2024

SOUTH AFRCIA ECONOMICS and energy advisory group shows what the load-shedding picture would
Meridian Economics on June 13 released a two- have looked like if government’s procurement of
part report on South Africa’s load-shedding renewable energy from IPPs continued without
challenges and ways to resolve them. According the interruption in 2016.
to the think tank, load-shedding can be stopped Meridian says that access to 5,000 MW of
by 2024, but that will require strong leadership additional wind and solar energy in 2021 would
from the presidency to see that “extraordinary have eliminated 96.5% of load-shedding that
interventions” on many fronts are implemented year. This would have also saved public utility
without any delay, Moneyweb reports. Eskom ZAR2.5bn.
Meridian Economics’s solution includes a In the second part, An achievable game plan
“drastic escalation” of wind and solar energy, to end load shedding, the report identifies prob-
changes in the tariffs to incentivise owners of lems in the current steps aimed at alleviating the
distributed generation to push excess energy into electricity crisis. It proposes urgent measures as
the grid, and the removal of stumbling blocks in a game plan to eliminate load-shedding by 2024
current government procurement from inde- and ensure energy security by 2025.
pendent power producers (IPPs). This includes “Implementing these reforms will require
lifting the licensing exemption for generation political will at a scale that has not yet been
plants from 100MW to 1000MW. demonstrated in dealing with South Africa’s
According to the two-part report titled power crisis,” said Steyn. “It will therefore be
Resolving the Power Crisis, without any inter- critical that a single, neutral overarching entity
vention load-shedding will likely increase up to in government takes the lead in setting out the
four-fold in 2023, compared with 2021, up to elements of the game plan that must be imple-
five-fold in 2024 and up to ten-fold in 2026. mented, and drives its implementation”.
The report was produced by energy analysts “In our view, the natural place for this role is
led by Meridian’s managing director Grove in the Presidency,” he added.™
Steyn. In the first part, Insights from 2021 –
SA’s worst load-shedding year so far, the report

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