SA needs 53GW of new energy capacity by 2032: Eskom

About 53GW of new energy generation capacity must be built in the next 10 years to support South Africa’s economy and to ensure energy security, Eskom said on Friday.

This is significantly higher than previous projections, and takes into account the deterioration of the “energy availability factor” of the Eskom coal fleet.

The state-owned electricity utility unveiled the projection — and the associated costs — at a public forum on Thursday, where its updated Transmission Development Plan (TDP) was discussed.

Most of the new capacity will have to come from renewable sources, including wind and solar, Eskom said.

“This 53GW of new additional power includes the current deficit of between 4GW and 6GW,” it said in a statement on Friday.

“This is a significant revision of the TDP 2021, which based its assumptions for new generation capacity on the Integrated Resource Plan of 2019, which proposed around 30GW of new capacity by 2030.

“To accommodate this additional capacity, and on the assumption that obstacles to the implementation of the roll-out plan are removed, the transmission infrastructure would need to be augmented by approximately 14 200km of extra high-voltage lines and 170 transformers by 2032,” it said.

R72.2-billion by 2027

“The analysis carried out reflects a requirement of approximately 2 890km of extra high-voltage lines and 60 transformers requiring a capital investment of R72.2-billion by the 2027 financial year. This requires that some challenges beyond Eskom’s full control, such as the lead time to obtain servitudes, among other relevant authorisations, as well as the resource capacity in the country, be urgently addressed,” the utility said.

“The next five years are very critical for security of supply. If the TDP 2022 requirements to deliver an adequate transmission network capacity by 2027 are to be met, a significant investment of R72.2-billion will be required to expand and strengthen the transmission grid over the next five years,” said Eskom transmission MD Segomoco Scheppers.

“Of this amount, R50.8-billion is required for new capacity expansion projects to meet the reliability requirements, connection of new generation capacity and loads, as well as to acquire servitudes. A further R21.4-billion is required to refurbish the existing asset base and procurement of production equipment.”  — © 2022 NewsCentral Media