Planning for the future

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde’s Energy Digicon this week looked to the future; more specifically measures the Western Cape Government (WCG) is exploring and implementing to meet the future energy needs of a growing population. A vital component of the Western Cape Energy Resilience Programme is the Provincial Integrated Resource Plan (PIRP). Essentially the PIRP is an assessment of the future needs of the province and a plan to meet those demands. It looks at both demand and supply side options.

“Apart from resolving the current energy crisis, we cannot afford to be caught off guard by not planning for the future,” Premier Winde said. He added, “Our PIRP is an investment in energy to continuously improve basic services and delivery in other critical areas.”

Special Advisor on Energy to the Premier, Mr Alwie Lester, explained that the plan has a 25-year horizon and is technologically agnostic. This means it considers all technology in the energy space that could be utilised to future-proof the Western Cape’s power system. He said, “The types of decisions we make in the short-, medium- and long-term need to consider factors such as whether the fiscus can manage it and whether residents pay for this type of energy. Cost is a big factor.”

On the benefits of the PIRP, Mr Lester pointed out that:

• It avoids the need for expensive emergency energy measures;
• Saves money by looking at cost effective energy solutions;
• Ensures that the appropriate technology is deployed in the correct windows;
• Reduces environmental risks; and
• Sets out a clear path to meet our energy transition and demand forecast.

The Premier stated, “By adhering to our PIRP we will be able to avoid future energy crises. The plan is holistic and informs our investments in energy projects.”

South Africa was dropped back into stage 6 loadshedding this week. Mr Lester explained this is partly due to an increase in the maintenance of generation units. “This adds to the stages of loadshedding we are in,” he said, adding, “But unplanned maintenance has also gone up from 32% to 33% this week. For every 1% increase (in maintenance) you are talking about between 600 MWs and 1 000 MWs being taken offline. Devastatingly Eskom is producing less energy this year than it was producing in previous years, despite our economy’s desperate need for energy to support growth.”

Moving onto another critical issue, Mr Lester said unit 1 at the Koeberg Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) – which has been undergoing refurbishments – will likely return to service in early November, as stated in a previous digicon featuring Mr Keith Featherstone – Acting Chief Nuclear Officer at KNPP. The unit will be synchronised before coming back online. Mr Lester noted, “That will give us some relief but at the same time we must also understand that unit 2 will be taken offline. Over October the Western Cape will be at risk of an additional stage of loadshedding. From November we will then see parity between the Western Cape and other provinces in terms of stages of loadshedding.”