Eskom has indicated that it has sufficient funding for the coming three years for the grid infrastructure investments that will be pursued in line with its Transmission Development Plan, but says additional financing will be required beyond that point and that alternative funding and delivery models may also be required.
Eskom, Scheepers said, was working with suppliers to ensure that there was sufficient capacity in place to meet its immediate requirements for new large transformers, as well as new power lines, which would require a secure supply of materials such as steel. It had also integrated an engineering procurement and construction approach to facilitate an acceleration in its delivery of new transmission infrastructure.
The utility and government are hoping these interventions, together with new grid-access rules, will avoid a repeat of Bid Window Six when no wind projects advanced to preferred bidder status based on an assessment that the grid had been fully absorbed in the wind-rich Eastern, Western and Northern Cape provinces.
Eskom is expected to release its new curtailment framework soon after it publishes and updated Generation Connection Capacity Assessment, which will outline what grid capacity remains available for use and where.