The South African Wind Energy Association has distanced itself from the legal action taken by a member of the association regarding the interim grid capacity allocation rules.
THE SOUTH African Wind Energy Association (Sawea) has distanced itself from the legal action taken by a member of the association regarding the interim grid capacity allocation rules (IGCAR).
Wind project developer G7 Renewable Energies has gone to court to challenge the new IGCAR set by Eskom citing that they were unlawful, unreasonable and irrational, and that they will hinder new operations.
This comes after Eskom’s general manager for operations enablement, Velaphi Ntuli, last month announced that new rules will apply for grid capacity allocation in the country.
The new IGCAR are aimed to level the playing fields between independent power producer (IPP) projects participating in the country’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPPP) and private sector IPP projects participating in distributed generation which includes wheeling.
Both sectors are currently competing for limited grid capacity in South Africa.
Sawea said on Monday that it had noted the legal proceedings regarding the IGCAR and that G7 had embarked on its own in an independent capacity, without the association’s prior knowledge.
The association said it recognised that members had divergent commercial and legal positions relating to grid capacity, and it was beyond its mandate to comment on the legal proceedings at this time.
However, Sawea said it was committed to working with all key stakeholders to accelerate the connection of shovel-ready projects with a view to alleviating the energy crisis.
“The association does, therefore, not support any action that will delay the process to build new generation capacity and bring it online urgently,” it said.
“As an association advocating for the advancement of the wind energy sector, Sawea will continue the constructive engagement with all key stakeholders, including the presidency, the National Energy Crisis Committee, and Eskom to find solutions that support the construction or expansion of utility scale wind projects to help solve the country’s energy crisis.
“To this end, Sawea encourages progressive industry discussions with the system operator regarding the optimisation of the grid including the allocation of grid capacity, in line with the industry’s objective to develop a favourable regulatory environment for the rollout of renewable energy.”
Sawea added that it had, for some time, worked constructively with Eskom to improve the process of allocating limited grid capacity in a fair and transparent manner within the regulatory framework.
As a result, it believed that further delays in the deployment of new generation capacity will erode economic recovery and growth, investor and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) confidence, and impact initiatives it supported, like the SA Renewable Energy Masterplan, to build industrial capacity and create jobs.
Analysts were reluctant to comment on the matter as it was not part of legal proceedings in a court of law.
However, the South African Independent Power Producers Association (Saippa) last month echoed the same sentiments as G7, saying that the new rules were dysfunctional and onerous.
Saippa indicated that it would have preferred Eskom to have kept its previous approach largely intact, while including some queueing rules and introducing a stipulation that IPPs show firm proof of the project reaching financial close and the construction contract being initiated within 12 to 18 months of having received a grid allocation.
– BUSINESS REPORT
