This week, it became much easier for South African businesses, malls and factories to get approval for their small-scale embedded generation (SSEG) renewable energy projects.
Business Day reported that Minister of Energy Jeff Radebe gave the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) leave to licence 500 Mega Watts (MW) for SSEG projects, sized between 1MW and 10MW, without him needing to sign it off.
This is expected to open a floodgate of approvals, as some 1,000MW worth of SSEG projects have been stuck in limbo for years, waiting for licencing under the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), government’s road map to electricity, said Niveshen Govender, programme manager at the South African Photovoltaic Industry Association (SAPVIA).