Business to business dealings of power generation, transmission and distribution is different from City to City and full of jargon.
Basically, City Power buys 90% of its power from Eskom and the remaining 10% from Kelvin Power Station.
Peak demand for electricity is between 6am to 9am and in the evenings from 5pm to 9pm.
According to Eskom, “peaking generation” includes stations (hydroelectric, hydro pumped storage and gas turbine) that operate during periods of high demand when the system is under strain, and above what the base-load can supply.
Currently about 1MW of electricity can power 650 average homes.
City Power wants to see its load factor from Eskom, improve from 78% to 94%, as shared at its Indaba last year.
In an ideal case, morning and evening peak would be reduced by 250 Megawatts, supported by storage and gas generation.
The City would ideally supply off- peak renewable energy.
It also would supply off-peak or opportune renewable energy to the Energy Storage Service Provider at ‘cost plus distribution losses.’ These are losses incurred during the transmission and distribution processes, mainly amounts that are not paid for by users.
City Power purchases the stored energy back from the service provider at slightly discounted Eskom Megaflex rates during the next peak pricing period.
Under the “Mega flex tariff” charged by Eskom to Municipalities, as approved by energy regulator, NERSA, on an annual basis, every kilowatt of energy storage will be used to shift consumption out of peak period. This is worth R2. 30 per cycle.
The storage services are provided on all weekdays and Saturdays over a multi-year term.
Proposed generator use of system charges are at peak (28, 25 cents per kilowatt and 31, 58 cents for off peak).
In June 2023, the city council approved generator-use-of-system tariffs, which allows independent power producers (IPPs) to supply electricity to customers from the existing grid. It is applicable to generators who supply within the City.