Power buyer imminent - Peters

Cape Town - According to the Energy Minister Dipuo Peters, her department is in the throes of establishing an independent system and market operator (ISMO) to buy electricity from the generating companies - public or private.

"An interim arrangement will create this entity either as subsidiary of Eskom or completely separately," the minister said in a written reply to a Parliamentary question from Sej Motau of the Democratic Alliance. "Appropriate funding options are being explored to enable the interim ISMO to contract with independent power producers."

She told her questioner that the operator, announced by the president in his state of the nation address last month, will be established by June 2010.

Power purchasing agreements are being developed by the Department of Energy and National Treasury, she said, and they too will be concluded by June 2010.

She was also asked when the medium-term power purchase programme will be reinstituted, and told Motau that Eskom indicated that they are unable to sign the contract because of the setting up of the IMSO, and is now waiting for the funding model to be finalised.

Motau also asked her what is going to happen to the adding transmission and distribution network once all the new power generators come on stream.

She told him that there is to be an extension to the transmission and distribution grid "to facilitate the up-take of current and future licensed projects".

In addition she said the adequacy of the electricity supply (network) in general has been assessed "and steps have been taken to rectify the situation", she said.

She also pointed out to him that municipalities are not excluded from "developing renewable energy projects subject to licensing by the regulator even though the constitutional mandate of municipalities does not include generation.

"There is," she said, "no intention to introduce a separate legislation for municipalities."

- I-Net Bridge