Minister of Energy, Jeff Radebe, has signed the long-awaited 27 outstanding renewable energy power purchase agreements (PPA).
Speaking at the event yesterday afternoon, Radebe acknowledged that the delay in signing these agreements had been detrimental to the economy and had negatively impacted investor confidence.
“We have reached this milestone following a long period of uncertainty, not only for the renewable energy industry, but also for private sector investment in the energy sector as a whole,” he said.
The procurement of the 27 new projects is the biggest IPP procurement by the Department of Energy to date, representing a total of R56 billion of investment and adding about 2300 MW of generation capacity to the power grid over the next five years.
Radebe said that the R56-billion would be injected by the private sector into the economy, with no contribution from government other than support to Eskom in the event of a default by the buyer.
“This will have a positive impact on the economy and competition in the energy sector will certainly benefit the end-user,” he said.
