Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa during his visit to the Ankerlig Open-cycle gas turbines (OCGT) facility located in the Western Cape. Photograph: Phando Jikelo/African News Agency (ANA)
The Minister in the Presidency responsible for Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has warned that the government will be ramping up Demand Side Management (DSM) programmes this winter as part of measures to prevent load shedding from exceeding Stage 6.
DSM is a strategy used by electricity utilities to control demand by encouraging consumers to modify their level and pattern of electricity usage, and typically includes monetary incentives to encourage consumers to buy energy-efficient equipment, or lower prices if they agree to reduce usage during peak times of demand.
Ramokgopa on Friday presented an update on the implementation of the Energy Action Plan, saying that they were working tirelessly to avert a worst-case scenario by implementing the first phase of the plan until August with a focus on “surviving winter”.
He said that the National Energy Crisis Committee (Necom) will ramp up the DSM programmes, including encouraging electricity users to switch off electric geysers, pool pumps, and energy-intensive equipment at peak times.
“Necom will run an aggressive demand side management campaign aimed at reducing demand on the grid. It is possible to reduce demand by 1 000MW and reduce load shedding by one stage through simple measures,” Ramokgopa said.
“We want electricity consumers to set inverters and batteries to charge from the grid during the night, to avoid increasing demand at peak times in the morning and evening. Inverter charging can add up to 1 400MW of excess demand, or more than one stage of load shedding, during times when the grid is already constrained.”
Eskom has made some strides in a range of DSM initiatives, including energy efficiency, demand response, distributed generation, and energy storage.
The organisation has been driving energy efficiency programmes and piloted energy-saving initiatives such as switching from the traditional incandescent light bulbs (ICLs) to compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs).
This comes as fears of a national blackout have grown after Eskom warned of an unprecedented Stage 8 load shedding during winter as generation capacity deteriorates while demand for electricity rises due to cold weather.
However, Ramokgopa said the risk of a national blackout, while inherent to the operation of a large power system, was extremely low given the various control measures in place, including load shedding.
Ramokgopa said Eskom has multiple safeguards in place to prevent a blackout, as well as detailed plans to restore the system in the unlikely event of an emergency.
“To this end, a national blackout would be caused by an unforeseen sequence of events, such as a natural disaster, triggering a simultaneous loss of supply across the country,” he said.
“Higher stages of load shedding do not increase the risk of a blackout. Rather, they reflect the continued ability of the System Operator to manage the balance power system and balance supply with demand.”
Meanwhile, Ramokgopa announced that two additional hydrogen projects from the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Programme to add an extra 274MW to the grid have been approved by the Eskom board.
In addition, he said preparations were underway to release an additional Bid Windows in June and July.
This includes Bid Window 7 for wind and solar PV (5 000MW), further bid windows for battery storage (1 200MW) and gas (3 000MW), and Request For Proposals for the Load Shedding
Reduction Programme (750 MW) and the Cross Border Procurement Programme (1000 MW).
He said these programmes will together procure over 10 000MW of new generation capacity.
This was Ramokgopa’s first media appearance since President Cyril Ramaphosa gave him “certain powers” under the Electricity Regulation Act No. 4 of 2006 (ERA) - which were previously held by the Minister of Minerals and Energy Gwede Mantashe -- to deal with the energy crisis.
Jason van der Poel, partner at Webber Wentzel, however, on Friday said Ramokgopa’s powers appeared to be limited and his areas of responsibility overlap with those of other ministers.
Van der Poel said those outside the Cabinet may speculate that the uncertainty that arises from the drafting of the proclamation holds potential for conflict not only between Ministers Ramokgopa and Mantashe but could also involve the Minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan, who is responsible for oversight of Eskom.
“So far, Minister Ramokgopa has indicated he is eager to add more renewable energy to South Africa’s generation capacity, but he has also indicated that it would make sense to extend the life of the country’s coal-fired power plants,” he said.
“This has caused consternation among those who expect the new minister to accelerate the Just Energy Transition.”
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