The Energy Regulator (NERSA) has published decisions made at its October 29, meeting.
Charles Hlebela, Head of Communications at the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA), said the five topical decisions are about licences approved for renewable energy projects.
The first, was the approval of two licences for Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd to operate solar PV generation facilities, the Sere Solar PV Power Plant and Lethabo Solar PV Power Plant.
Eskom now has a licence to operate a 19.5MW solar PV facility, within the Sere Power Station, which has a capacity of 105,8 MW.
The station is located at Matzikama Local Municipality, Western Cape Province.
The Lethabo Power Station on Farm no. 1814, Metsimaholo Local Municipality, in the Free State Province, has a coal plant, but Eskom has a generation license to generate 75MW of solar energy.
The second decision, AGV Projects (Pty) Ltd was given a license to operate a 177.50MWac/710MWh battery energy storage (BESS) facility.
The Energy Regulator also approved the Capital Cost Recovery Charge Rate (CCRn) of R546.50/MWh (base year 1 April 2023), that is used to calculate the tariff in the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) and noted the PPA between AGV and the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA).
The third decision, NERSA approved four electricity trading licence applications for Discovery Green (Pty) Ltd, Green Electron Market (Pty) Ltd (GEM), CBI Electric Apollo (Pty) Ltd and GreenCo Power Services (Pty) Ltd.
Elu Energy (owner of 2 rooftop solar PV projects in Ekurhuleni) will sell the energy generated from the solar PV rooftop system to Discovery Green.
As a trader, GEM has entered into two separate agreements with a generator and a customer.
The Generator Power Purchase Agreement (GPPA) is with the generator, Cetus Energy (Pty) Ltd, for 75MW solar PV from the Bela Bela Solar Park situated at Bela Bela in the Limpopo Province.
The Electricity Supply Agreement (ESA) is with the off-taker, Evander Gold Mining, for 46MW of solar PV energy.
GEM will use Eskom’s distribution network to wheel the electricity to Evander Gold Mining. GEM intends to sell the 29MW of excess energy to future customers.
The fourth, approved an import and export licence to GreenCo Power Services (Pty) Ltd, subject to licence conditions imposed.
GreenCo intends to trade electricity in the Southern Africa Power Pool (SAPP) market through its sister company, GreenCo Zambia, which is a member of the SAPP. GreenCo is also licensed as a trader by the Energy Regulation Board (ERB) of Zambia. Its membership with the SAPP allows it to import and export power from the SAPP, through the Eskom network, to South African customers.
GreenCo intends to import 65MW into South Africa from Tati Solar, which is situated in Botswana.
GreenCo and Tati Solar have entered into a five-year Generator Power Purchase Agreement (GPPA).
Tati Solar is currently building a 100MW solar PV generation facility in Botswana, and its intended commercial operation date is December 2026.
The 65MW of energy imported by GreenCo aims to bring more capacity into the Republic of South Africa and will be sold to Sibanye Stillwater and GreenCo’s other future customers.
The fifth is a Registration Certificate to operate a Distribution Facility, issued to Lion Thorn Solar (Pty) Ltd (‘Lion Thorn Solar’).
The certificate will be useful in operating a 3.6km, 33kV overhead line from Leeuwbosch and a Wildebeestkuil 20MW generation facilities to the point of connection at Lion Thorn 132/33kV Substation.
The project is in Maquassi Hill Local Municipality, North West Province.