The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) has reported the registration of 124 generation facilities in the third quarter (October to December) of the 2023/24 Financial Year.
These facilities have a combined capacity of 605MW and a total investment value of R7.8 billion.
Majority of the registered facilities utilise solar photovoltaic (PV) technology, with 122 facilities accounting for 604MW of capacity and an investment of R7753 million.
Additionally, there are three commercial generation facilities registered, with a capacity of 77MW and an investment cost of R1733 million.
However, only two facilities utilising Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) technology were registered during this period, with a total capacity of 1MW and an investment value of R4 million.
NERSA said it was concerned about the lack of storage coupled with many registered facilities, as it exacerbates the 'California Duck Curve'. The duck curve is a graph of power production over the course of a day that shows the timing imbalance between peak demand and solar power generation.
Nhlanhla Gumede, the Regulator Member responsible for electricity regulation at NERSA, emphasised the critical need for registration applications for generation facilities of variable energy sources to be coupled with battery storage.
The top three provinces with the highest number of new registered generation facilities are the
Western Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, as well as the Eastern Cape.
However, in terms of installed capacity and investment value, the top three provinces are North West, Limpopo and Mpumalanga.
The North West Province has generated the highest investment cost for the third quarter, at R3.5 billion, with an installed capacity of 372MW. This can be attributed to the mining activities within the province.
Regarding the energy exported through the national grid, 86 generation facilities are connected to the Eskom network, generating a total of 568MW, while 38 facilities are connected to municipal distribution networks, generating 37MW.
The average investment cost per kilowatt for the third quarter of the 2023/24 FY is R12,817.
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