PHUTI MOSOMANE
PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that the National Transmission Company of South Africa (NTCSA) will be launched soon in a bid to reduce the severity of load shedding and achieve the energy security in SA.
Ramaphosa was delivering a keynote address at the South Africa Investment Conference on Thursday morning held at the Sandton Convention Centre.
The conference is attended by delegates from diverse industries in South Africa and around the world.
“We expect the National Transmission Company to be fully operational shortly,” said Ramaphosa.
“The debt transfer package for Eskom, together with the progress made in unbundling the utility, will enable the necessary investment in the transmission network and in maintenance of Eskom’s generation fleet.”
The establishment of the new transmission company will open the way towards the unbundling of Eskom and forms part of government’s wide-ranging reforms in the electricity sector to enable private investment in electricity generation and accelerate the procurement of new generation capacity.
He told hordes of local and international investors that the energy sector remains one of government’s top priority. He added that the lack of reliability in electricity supply weakens business and consumer confidence, taints international perceptions about South Africa and affects investment sentiment and decisions.
“With a view to addressing the energy challenges we announced an Energy Action Plan in July last year. The Energy Action Plan presents a clear path to reduce the severity and frequency of load shedding in the short term and achieve energy security in the long term,” said Ramaphosa.
“The Minister in the Presidency for Electricity, with the support of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, the Department of Public Enterprises and the National Energy Crisis Committee, is overseeing the implementation of this plan.”
Cabinet has approved the Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill, which will soon be tabled in Parliament, to establish a competitive market for electricity generation, said Ramaphosa.
“Though load shedding will remain a challenge in the immediate future, its severity will begin to ease as some of the more targeted initiatives recently announced begin to take effect,” said Ramaphosa.
“What we are witnessing in the energy sector is an undeniable surge of investment that will not only address the electricity supply shortfall in years to come but will propel growth and create jobs.”
Ramaphosa further announced that the government remains committed to a Just Energy Transition (JET) and meeting the targets of achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
“We will implement our Just Energy Transition Investment Plan, which outlines our investment needs to support a just and inclusive transition towards cleaner forms of energy/”
“We will soon be completing the review of the Integrated Resource Plan to lay the foundation for a fundamentally transformed energy landscape that transitions us along a low-carbon, climate resilient developmental path,” he added.
He also stated that government has recently released a request for proposals for over 500 MW of battery storage and will soon open further bid windows for wind and solar, battery storage and gas power.
“As we work to close the electricity supply shortfall and end load shedding in the short term, we are laying the foundation for a fundamental reform of the energy sector in the longer term,” he told investors.
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