The South African Wind Energy Association (Sawea) is considering legal options to get Eskom CEO Brian Molefe to sign power purchase agreements (PPAs) for round four of the Renewable Energy Independent PowerProducer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP).
Sawea says 26 projects totalling R50-billion in investment are at stake, as Eskom delays signing round four of the REIPPPP.
Sawea has launched an official complaint with the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) over Eskom’s failure to comply with Ministerial determinations.
If Eskom is found guilty, Sawea has requested that Nersa impose the maximum legislated penalty of 10% of Eskom’s daily turnover for each day that Eskom continues to delay the programme.
“Sawea believes that Eskom is acting in direct contravention with government’s policy to diversify the country’s energy mix,” said Sawea CEO Johan van den Berg, who was speaking at the yearly Windaba conference, in Cape Town, where hundreds of key players in the wind energy industry have gathered this week.
The wind energy industry believes that Eskom is abusing its position as the operator of the national grid in favour of its own investment in new power plants.
