- The deadline for the public to comment on the electricity regulation bill is October 13.
- The Bill would open up the market in the electricity sector to mitigate the impact of power cuts.
The National Assembly’s portfolio committee on mineral resources and energy in South Africa has called for submissions on the Electricity Regulation Bill. The Bill would open up the market in the electricity sector to mitigate the impact of power cuts. The committee has set a deadline of October 13 for the public to comment on the Bill.
Early this year, the committee announced proposals for the Electricity Regulation Bill in the national legislature. President Cyril Ramaphosa also spoke about the need to have the Bill in place to open up the market in the electricity sector. However, after several months of delay, the committee raised the proposal in parliament only a few weeks ago.
The Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, said they would expand the grid in the coastal provinces to provide other energy sources. The provinces include the Northern Cape, Eastern Cape and Western Cape. Recall that the Minister of Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, said the ministry plans to expand the transmission lines by 14,000 km in the next ten years. He added that the government would need R210 billion to invest in this project.
According to him, the transmission lines need to be in the Eastern, Western and Northern Cape. This is because the project would start with gas, nuclear and renewable projects. “We are going to announce and publish a Request for Proposal for 3,000MW gas in Ngqura. Eskom must agree there will be a transmission line for it.
“Before I come to nuclear, you must know we are not thinking nuclear. We are thinking energy. But one of the problems is that all the coastal provinces have weak transmission lines: Northern Cape, Eastern Cape and Western Cape. Why? Because energy was generated in Mpumalanga in the coal belt. It was developed to respond to that reality. As we develop energy facilities here, there is an obligation to develop transmission lines,” Mantashe added.