GCIS
Eskom’s transmission expansion and strengthening will require a “considerable amount of resources” that will require government and the private sector to work together.
This is according to Minister in the Presidency for Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, when he was briefing media on the progress of the Energy Action Plan.
"We are looking to tap into the liquidity that is available from the private sector to allow us an opportunity to expand the grid so that we are able to accommodate the renewable energy solutions that have been rolled out in the country, and a number of them have not been connected to the grid as a result of the constraint on the transmission side".
"The transmission expansion and strengthening exercise will require a considerable amount of resources and we know that the Eskom balance sheet is constrained and we know that the sovereign matrix has deteriorated, so it’s important that we explore opportunities for the country to tap into the liquidity that is sitting with the private sector," the Minister said on Tuesday.
He said government is "doing everything possible" to engage the private sector on what will attract more investment in transmission.
The Minister also reflected on the lower stages of load shedding over the long weekend and the uptick in load shedding stages announced by Eskom on Monday.
"On account of the inclement weather in the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape and our desire to make sure that we are able to support the efforts of the… emergency people to address and respond to the challenges that are associated with the… storms that have been experienced there, a decision was taken by Eskom to say that those areas, because of the difficulties that they are experiencing, will be exempt from load shedding and then the rest of the country will carry the load," he said.
SAnews.gov.za
