Page 12 - AfrElec Week 19

AfrElec
NEWS IN BRIEF
AfrElec
POLICY
Legal ruling could open up SA’s power system
The city of Cape Town is awaiting a court ruling on whether it can buy its own electricity from suppliers other than national power utility Eskom without getting approval from the energy minister.
Judge Leonie Windell of South Africa’s High Court on May 12 reserved judgment in the case between the city and the energy ministry and the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, Bloomberg reported.
The case could pave the way for South African municipalities to bypass the ministry and source their own power, much of it from renewable sources.
It would also reduce revenue for Eskom, which produces most of its energy from coal and is saddled with ZAR454bn ($25bn) in debt. Eskom’s inability to supply sufficient power has resulted in repeated power cuts.
“Allowing municipalities to contribute to ensuring supply security is an important avenue to returning South Africa to a reliable and secure electricity system,” said Jesse Burton, a senior associate at E3G, an independent London-based climate change think-tank.
“National government continues to tie municipalities to the high-cost future of expensive Eskom and expensive new coal plants, just as cities worldwide become sites of innovation and climate ambition.”
Burton provided an expert statement for the Centre for Environmental Rights, an environmental legal organisation that is an amicus to the case.
POLICY
Tanzania records highest
percentage in access to
electricity
Tanzanian Energy Minister Dr Medard Kalemani has announced that Tanzania has recorded its highest percentage in access to electricity so far with 84.6% in 2020.
Kalemani said the number of villages with access to electricity rose to 9,112 in April 2020 from 2,018 in 2015.
The number of customers connected to the main source of power also reached over 2.766mn, up from 1.473mn, or an increase of 1.293mn new connections.
According to the minister, power generation in the country had also increased to 1,601.84 megawatts as of last April from only 1,308MW in 2015.
The increase in power capacity is attributed to the completion of Kinyerezi I and II natural gas-powered station generating a combined capacity of 398.22MW.
Natural gas in the country’s largest source of power mix accounting to 892.72MW of the national grid.
Hydropower contributes 573.70MW, while heavy oil and biomass make up of 88.80MW and 10.50MW, respectively.
Kalemani also revealed that works on the construction of the Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project (JNHPP), which will pump an additional 2,115MW into the national grid, has reached 85% and will be completed in 2022.
“We are planning to continue implementing other electricity-generating projects during the forthcoming financial
year,” he said.
He lined-up projects include the ongoing
Rusumo Hydropower Project – a shared project between Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi whose work has now reached 61%.
The energy minister listed other projects that will be implemented in 2020/21 as Ruhudji project (358MW), Kakono (87MW), Rumakali (222MW), Malagarasi (45MW), Kikonge (300MW), Kinyerezi I Extension (185MW), Mtwara (300MW) and renewable energy projects (solar 150 megawatts, wind 200MW and coal 600MW).
“We’re committed to increasing our power distribution networks,” he added.
He cited some projects including the 400kV Singida-Arusha- Namanga, 220kV Makambako- Songea, 220kV Bulyanhulu- Geita, 220kV Geita-Nyakanazi, 220kV Rusumo-Nyakanazi, and 400kV Iringa- Mbeya-Tunduma- Sumbawanga-Mpanda- Kigoma-Nyakanazi, which is commonly known as Northwest grid.
ESKOM
Eskom intensifies efforts
to distribute free basic
electricity
South Africa’s state-owned power utility Eskom has launched a communication campaign aimed at raising awareness of the longstanding Free Basic Electricity (FBE) programme.
The FBE initiative is targeted at giving limited free electricity to indigent households and is reignited at this time to help alleviate the impact of the COVID-19 national lockdown.
Qualifying households, in terms of the government’s policy of providing support to the unemployed, low-earning, the destitute and the elderly, are encouraged to approach their municipalities to register as indigents in order to collect their allocated units every month.
“Customers on municipalities’ indigent household registers have the right to collect a minimum 50-kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity for free every month, which
can also be higher, depending on the municipality,” said Monde Bala, Group Executive: Distribution at Eskom.
Bala added: “Unfortunately a large number of indigent households don’t exercise their right. Either because they are unaware of the free basic electricity, or because they have not
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Week 19 14•May•2020