Pretoria - South Africa is finding it tough to connect its growing number of renewable power projects to the national grid at a time when state-owned utility Eskom is facing a power crisis that is hurting economic growth.
“Connections are a problem, we have all identified that, including Eskom,” head of Independent Power Producers unit Karen Breytenbach told a news conference.
This weekend, President Jacob Zuma opened South Africa's first new power plant in 20 years with a warning that the country's perennial energy shortages were hampering economic growth.
Construction on the six-unit, 4 764 MW Medupi plant near Lephalale, about 350km north of Johannesburg, was started in 2007 but the first 794 megawatts (MW) only came online this week after delays due to strikes, technical issues and cost overruns.
“Shortage of energy does not only cause enormous inconvenience, it is a serious impediment to economic growth. Today, I am here to say, there is light,” Zuma said on Sunday.
Medupi's Unit 6 brings Eskom's installed capacity to 45 000 MW, said Brian Molefe, Eskom’s acting chief executive.
REUTERS