If the Integrated Resource Plan is implemented, coal decommissioned by 2030, is meant to amount to about 33, 364 MW.
According to the old Integrated Resource Plan,
total installed capacity of wind energy by 2030, will amount to 17, 742 MW and other sources PV (8288 MW), Hydro (4,600 MW), Nuclear (1860 MW), gas and diesel (6380 MW).
Transmission projects underway include Medupi Phase 2 Integration, Kusile Integration, Empangeni, KZN South, Bloemfontein and the West Coast.
Transmission projects under development are in the Lowveld (Mpumalanga) , Highveld South, Empangeni, East London, Upington and Johannesburg South.
Speaking at South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA)’s regular Turbine Talks yesterday, Tshepo Tshivhasa, Engineer at Eskom, said the Cape Region’s (Western and Eastern) generation connection capacity ran dry after Bid Window 6.
This is largely due to the approval of privately procured (PPA) projects’ rapid connection to the grid.
Through Eskom’s curtailment plan, about 3,5 Gigawatts (GW) of connection capacity will be availed.
Curtailment limits the amount of active power generated by a power station.
Tshivhasa shared the renewables energy integration timeline.
Bid window 6 did not award any wind projects, but 1,000 MW were awarded to PV.
About 6,7 GW of reserved grid connection capacity, is for private PPAs.
Subsequent to Bid Window 7, about 5GW of a combination of wind and PV will be procured in the first quarter of 2025.
Grid capacity of 0MW for renewable projects in the Cape, has posed a challenge for PPAs in the Northern Cape, specifically after Bid Window 6.
Tshivhasa said the curtailment framework is meant to address the short term bottlenecks, while bulk energy storage addresses the medium-term.
Ultimately, the strengthening of the transmission network is a long-term solution.
He said Eskom already makes provision for the constrained generation for traditional power stations, Hydro stations and others in its fleet.
Graph presented by Tshepo Tshivhasa of Eskom
Picture: Siemens GameSA Renewable Energy