Government says it has amended the request for proposal (RFP) to increase the megawatt allocation under Bid Window 6 (BW6) of the renewable energy procurement programme.
This, as the state looks to end load-shedding and achieve energy security through the bid window, saying the plan remains on track.
In a statement, the national Energy Crisis Committee says the move to increase the MW is in response to president Cyril Ramaphosa’s July announcement, when he placed renewables at the core of government’s plans to end load-shedding.
The capacity to be procured currently under BW6 will now increase from 2 600MW to 4 200MW, according to the statement. This follows the conclusion of all required governance approvals, including Eskom approval, it reads.
“To clarify the procurement process currently under way, due to the urgency required to resolve the electricity supply crisis, government decided to proceed with increasing wind allocation from 2 600MW to 3 200MW at this stage, in line with the second determination of 2020.
“Rather than delay this RFP for all requests to be approved, government opted to issue the current RFP for 4 200MW as opposed to delaying the entire Bid Window. A further announcement regarding the remaining 1 000MW of solar PV will be made, following the conclusion of the NERSA process regarding the concurrence of the new determination.
“At the end of this process, we aim to be adding a total of 5 200MW under BW6 to the grid.”
Government’s announcement comes as Eskom ramped up rolling power cuts at the weekend, with the country plunged into stage four load-shedding.
Today, the power utility reduced load-shedding to stage three, saying the country will move to stage two at 5am on Tuesday and remain at that level until Friday.
