- NERSA begins public hearings on generation license applications
- To listen to public opinion on the RMIPPP projects
- Karpowership projects remains a hot topic
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) has commenced public hearings on the applications for generation licenses under the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement (RMIPPP) programme. The RMIPPP emergency projects seek to bridge the generation gap by executing emergency generation projects of up to 2,000MW.
Recently, the RMIPPP programme became a controversial topic with the alleged fraudulent award of a 1,220MW project to the Turkish company, Karpowership. Following a public uproar on the bidding process, a lawsuit by DNB Energy, and an environmental petition against Karpowership, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) rejected Karpowership’s application for an environmental permit for its Floating Storage and Regasification Units (FSRUs).
The DMRE also extended the deadline for financial closure of projects under the RMIPPPP to 30th September despite the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwedebe Mantashe, being quoted as saying the deadline for the projects were ”non-negotiable”. The DMRE, however, stated that the extended deadline was to allow for the finalisation of regulatory processes, including Eskom’s conclusion of Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with the successful bidders.