The South African Council of Ministers has given the green light to the plan by the Minister of Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, to import enough electricity to cope with at least one phase of load shedding in the country.
The Minister of the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, said on Thursday, 8 June, that the electricity purchase agreement between South Africa and Mozambique was one of the issues deliberated during the Council of Ministers meeting on Wednesday, a week after the Minister of Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, travelled to Maputo to hold meetings with the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Carlos Zacarias, to discuss the additional sale of power to South Africa.
Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said the Council of Ministers welcomed the recent deliberations by the two rulers to secure additional power from Mozambique to support South Africa’s electricity grid.
“In the immediate term, Mozambique can supply 80 MW and an additional 1000 MW in the medium term,” Ntshavheni said, stressing that “Government continues to urge South Africans to support the ‘Winter Demand Management’ campaign launched by the Executive to save electricity by reducing pressure on the national grid and help reduce load shedding phases this winter.”
The additional 1000 MW would mean Eskom could lessen its load shedding by at least one phase, bringing some relief to businesses and households. South Africa currently has an electricity shortfall of 6000 MW, forcing Eskom to apply up to phase six of rotating load shedding to prevent the collapse of the national grid.
As part of the measures to close this gap, the Government has decided that the utility should import power from neighbouring Southern African countries such as Botswana and Zambia through the Southern African Power Pool agreement.
South Africa is the main buyer of power from the Cahora Bassa dam on the Zambezi River, buying about 1,400 MW in a contract valid until 2029. Eskom, however, has been dragging its feet in negotiations to buy more power from the Mozambican hydroelectric dam.
