OVERVIEW available for
OVERVIEW available for this first phase. Eskom owns 36 000ha in the province. A total of 1 800MW will become available to the grid and it will be cheaper to transmit because the solar or wind plants will be right next to the existing Eskom transmission lines. According to the PCC, the pipeline of REIPPPP projects stood at R377-billion in June 2024. Applications for the development of 4.5GW were received in 2023, sharply up from the two previous years, 135MW (2021) and 1.6GW (2022). The establishment of a onestop shop to deal with registering projects is part of the reason for the expansion of potential new capacity. The relaxation by national government of the rules regarding setting up a power plant of 100MW or less is well suited to the requirements of big timber-processing companies such as Sappi and PG Bison and all the large mining concerns that are active in Mpumalanga. The second phase of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) energy in South Africa proposes three additional Renewable Energy Development Zones (REDZs) for wind and solar photovoltaic energy projects, taking the total number to 11. In 2021, Emalahleni became the latest REDZ to be gazetted. Previously known as Witbank, the town is at the centre of the province’s coal-mining district. REDZs support the implementation of the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP 2019). Renewable energy projects that might be developed in these new REDZs have the potential to make significant contributions to mine rehabilitation and, by creating jobs, support a just energy transition in the specified areas including areas where coal power stations are planned to be decommissioned. Wheeling is growing Wheeling is getting power from a generator to an end-user located in another area through existing distribution or transmission networks. With the imminent breakup of Eskom into three divisions, including a distribution unit which will not be required to protect the interests of Eskom’s generation company, the possibility of other power generators and users of the grid has opened up. Big companies like Amazon and Vodacom are signing wheeling arrangements to have power generated by solar and wind parks sent to them to help them meet their climate change commitments. Three 110MW wind farms being constructed near St Francis Bay in the Eastern Cape will supply energy to Sasol and Air Liquide in Mpumalanga. Enel Green Power and Red Cap are building the R9-billion Impofu project. Amazon is having power wheeled to its facilities from a block of wind farms in Kenhardt in the Northern Cape. ENERTRAG South Africa, in the course of its research into Mpumalanaga as a site for wind energy, has stated that the current environment is creating an active offtakers market among Energy Intensive Users (EIUs) and no place is better equipped to service that market and to facilitate wheeling than the Mpumalanga province, Emalahleni in particular. The renewable energy subsidiary of coal-mining company Seriti Resources, Seriti Green, is to build a 150MW wind farm that will allow the company to receive 75% of the energy it needs to run its coal mines from renewable sources. This first phase of a larger project is expected to start producing power in 2025. The wind farm will cost R4-billion, with R1.5-billion allocated to new grid infrastructure. The grid infrastructure will be partly owned by Eskom. ■ ONLINE RESOURCES HyShiFT: www.hyshift.org South African Independent Power Producers Association: www.saippa.org.za South African Wind Energy Association: www.sawea.org MPUMALANGA BUSINESS 2024/25 38
INNOVATION - FORESIGHT - EXPERTISE Turning renewable sources into energy and ideas into reality. enertrag.co.za
