Question:
Could EIUG comment on what measures it sees as key to solving South Africa’s energy crisis? We understand that President Ramaphosa could make an announcement by the end of the week, but in any case interested in what EIUG would like to see.
Response:
The EIUG believes this is a national crisis with significant adverse impact on the economy, regular life of citizens and the reputation of our country. We therefore support the call for an urgent and drastic response that is equal to the crisis. We also hope that to achieve a robust and broadly supported response, innovative views from a wide range of stakeholders will be considered, in particular those stakeholders who may be directly impacted.
The EIUG has already requested in the past and hopes for the urgent establishment of a multi-stakeholder platform where ideas can be shared as to how to deal with the current crisis in the short-to-medium term and also to prepare and plan for the future. This platform may need to consider:
Immediate actions required to assist Eskom improve its plant availability (EAF) through effective maintenance and with that will come a need for a more robust monitoring of Eskom performance.
Urgent identification and incentivising of demand management measures to reduce energy consumption in a manner that does not negatively impact productivity.
Adding additional generation capacity by expediting the public procurement processes while at the same time accelerating private sector generation deployment through easing of regulatory and legislative red-tape and incentives, such as tax reforms.
A focused review and reform of our energy legislation and regulations to set us up for the future transformed energy industry.
Most important is that all possible solutions must consider the affordability of electricity in charting a least cost path out of the current crisis.
There is no single stakeholder with solutions for all these challenges. This is particularly so considering that Eskom does not control all the levers to deliver but is dependent on others to do so. However, working with Eskom, these stakeholders may provide solutions from their side that could assist and/or advise Eskom on improvements. As the performance environment is enabled Eskom will have to be held accountable for delivery as the enablement may involve a sacrifice by stakeholders.
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