(Archive photo: GCIS)
Eskom says it currently complies with 36 of the 40 network access rules that the energy regulator Nersa finalized in December and in the Government Gazette published.
Dan Marokane, CEO of Eskom, said during Eskom’s media conference on the state of the power grid before the winter on Wednesday, that the four outstanding rules relate to disclosure, among other things, of which projects are in line for grid connections.
He was responding to comments by the South African Independent Power Producers Association (Saippa) after Eskom looked down its nose in the High Court in a case regarding one of its decisions on network access.
The High Court in Johannesburg has declared illegal and invalid a decision by Eskom to withdraw the connection previously awarded to Mulilo Energy Holdings for a solar power plant in the Free State and instead award it to a competitor, the Scatec group. The court set aside the decision.
Mulilo’s power production has signed a contract with a client in the private sector to buy the power it generates at the plant. Scatec, on the other hand, will sell its production to Eskom in terms of the government’s program for green power purchases (REIPPPP).
In response to the ruling, Saippa accused Eskom of persisting with its own interim grid access rules instead of applying Nersa’s new rules.
Moroccans said there is still no clarity on the four outstanding rules. However, after consultation with the industry, the utility will continue to implement the rules “as we deem best” to protect the commercial interests of grid access applicants, he said.
An industry expert who prefers to remain anonymous told Maroela Media what is needed is transparency about the waiting list for network connections and any changes to it, to remove any doubt that Eskom is acting in good faith and according to the rules.
“There is no need to disclose commercially sensitive information. All we want to know is who the project owner is, what capacity he is applying for, where and when.”
The association further said Eskom bullies independent power producers and called for network allocations for generators to be done independently of Eskom’s distribution division, which it says resists competition and uses its control over network connections to the detriment of private developers.
Saippa wants it to be based within the National Transmission Company of South Africa (NTCSA) to prevent the perception of a conflict of interest, as Eskom’s distribution division competes with the private sector in the electricity trade.
Moroccans deplored the comments, saying the NTCSA owns the high voltage network, and Eskom’s distribution department and municipal distributors own their networks. It would not be appropriate for the NTCSA to manage network allocations on a network belonging to another entity such as Eskom’s distribution division.
“That’s why there are rules,” he said, pointing out that Saippa participated in the process of drafting and finalizing them.
Moroccans urged all parties to focus now on implementing the rules, ensure that there are consequences for non-compliance and, where necessary, work to refine the rules.
He did not respond to Saippa’s competition concerns.
He did disclose that in the past two weeks, Nersa had written to all the network owners – namely NTCSA, Eskom’s distribution department and municipal distributors – and asked for feedback on the implementation of the grid access rules.
