Eskom load-shedding: National Government must take urgent action on IPPs
17 May 2021
Amendments to national electricity regulations that were finally gazetted in October 2020, have begun to pave the way for municipalities to source power independently from Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
The City has been in discussions with the national IPP office in the National Treasury to assist us in developing a framework for a municipal procurement programme for cities. The National Treasury supports our initiatives and also the public and transparent procurement processes we committed to from the start. Tender processes and the successful bids would need to be completed ahead of any potential procurement.
However, we urgently need clarity from the National Minister on the practical implementation of the amended regulations, which include:
Municipalities need to understand how the regulations will be implemented within the context of the current Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) for electricity, which is fully allocated up to 2024. It is not clear where the allocation for municipal procurement will come from in the IRP and whether the Determinations provided in September 2020 will be amended to include municipalities or whether a new Determination will be issued to include municipalities.