The Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber has welcomed the announcement made by President Cyril Ramaphosa that the government will be making an amendment to Schedule 2 of the Electricity Regulation Act, allowing for NERSA to lift the electricity generation threshold for embedded generation projects from 1MW to 100MW.
This will go a long way in addressing the current power outages across the country and is also expected to unlock significant investment in new generation capacity in the short and medium term, enabling companies to construct their own generation facilities to meet their energy suppy needs. This in turn will increase the available supply of energy and reduce the burden on Eskom, allowing Eskom to proceed with its intensive maintenance programme and reduce its reliance on expensive gas and diesel turbines.
But more importantly, it will also have positive spin-offs in the area of job creation and potentially help reduce Nelson Mandela Bay’s high unemployment rate, which is currently sitting at 39,2%, according to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey results.
The President’s announcement comes at a time South Africans and the business sector are battling rolling power outages which are a threat to livelihoods and costly disruption to business operations and their sustenance. It has also had costly ramifications for the local economy which is slowly recovering from the impact of the Covid-19 shutdown.
Ramaphosa further highlighted that power generators will also be allowed to wheel electricity through the transmission grid, subject to wheeling charges and connection agreements with Eskom and relevant municipalities.
As the Business Chamber, we welcome and encourage growth in this sector and support business initiatives in renewable energy development. The Metro is positioning itself as the energy hub of South Africa, hosting a basket of strategic energy projects in the region.
Denise Van Huyssteen
CEO
Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber