The Energy Regulation and Markets Review - Stikeman Elliott

Chapter 20
South Africa
Shamilah Grimwood and Zahra Omar 1
I
OVERVIEW
i Electricity
South Africa has a gross installed electricity generation capacity of about 36GW
dominated by coal-fired electricity generation facilities (90 per cent). Electricity
production from hydro, natural gas and oil sources located in South Africa is nominal
(about 1 per cent). Nuclear electricity production (from the Koeberg power station,
South Africa’s only nuclear power station) is estimated at 5 per cent, with South Africa
importing the balance of its electricity consumption requirements mainly from the
Cahora Bassa hydro-power plant in Mozambique and otherwise through the regional
power exchange among members of the Southern African Power Pool. South Africa has
over 400,000 kilometres of distribution network infrastructure plus 26,225 kilometres
of transmission lines with a nominal voltage above 132kV. Its network infrastructure
with a nominal voltage of 132kV or less comprises its distribution asset base.
In March 2011, Eskom Holdings SOC Limited (‘Eskom’), 2 the national electricity
supply utility, reported that South Africa’s reserve margin had improved to 14.9 per cent
(up from 5 per cent in January 2008 when South Africa experienced severe blackouts
reportedly due to constraints in coal supply and technical outages). South Africa’s current
20-year new generation capacity plan proposes to more than double its installed capacity
by 2030 by adding nearly 53GW. The generation mix of the proposed new generation
capacity plan allocates 16.3GW for coal, 9.6GW for nuclear, 17.8GW for renewables
and 8.9GW for other generation sources.
1 Shamilah Grimwood is a partner and Zahra Omar is a senior associate at White & Case LLP
(South Africa).
2 Established in terms of the Eskom Conversion Act 3 of 2001.
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