South Africa’s wind energy sector needs to ensure that wind projects are no longer stymied by insufficient grid capacity, as was seen in Bid Window 6.
Insufficient grid capacity is not a new challenge but it continues to be the number one deterrent to immediately increasing new wind energy installed capacity.
Organised by Sawea and supported by the Global Wind Energy Council , the role of wind energy in the energy mix and related industry and energy challenges were discussed at length. This comes after an interdict application by G7 Renewable Energies to prevent Eskom from implementing the IGCA Rules, was withdrawn in September, asThe rules were developed to address grid scarcity for connections moving from a ‘first come, first served’ approach to a ‘first ready, first served’ approach.
The Electricity Regulation Act Amendment Bill is also viewed as key regulation to support South Africa’s transition away from its centralised, vertically integrated electricity market, towards a more competitive model.