The current bid selection criteria of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement (REIPPP) programme’s narrow evaluation and spatial blindness favours projects that are not necessarily the least-cost option for renewable energy at the point of consumption. This not only impacts energy costs for Eskom, and therefore for consumers, but also creates transmission congestion and delayed connections to an already constrained grid, incurring further costs.
Renewable energy (RE) generation forms part of the national integrated resource plan for electricity, IRP 2010-2030, a plan adopted by the DoE in 2011 that establishes an energy generation mix and profile for South Africa up to 2030. The REIPPP programme is the implementation vehicle for RE in terms of this plan.
