LISTEN: ‘Elon Musk’s battery farm could be a solution for energy crisis in SA’ – Energy expert

As the country buckles under the devastating impact of stage 6 load shedding, energy expert Chris Yelland warned that the deliberate power cuts may even spike to a higher stages and that Elon Musk’s battery farm could be a solution for South Africa.

Yelland was speaking to The Citizen on Friday on a few issues surrounding the current energy crisis including the decision by National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) to hike electricity prices by 18.65% and whether Elon Musk’s Battery Farm may be a viable solution for the country.

Higher stages of load shedding

Households and businesses are already suffering under the devastating impact of load shedding with angry and frustrated South Africans calling on President Cyril Ramaphosa to find a solution to the crisis.

While Eskom imposed stage 6 load shedding until further notice, Yelland said there is a possibility of higher stages.

“It is certainly possible that we will experience high levels of load shedding. At the moment Eskom has postponed the use of the open cycle gas turbines (OCGT) because of financial constraints as well as logistical issues in getting the amount necessary of diesel to these power plants.”

“This is going to exacerbate the situation in the year ahead unless significant amount of new money can be found for this purpose. There’s also the failures at Kusile Power Station. Two of the units are down at the moment and projects have been delayed further. There’s a unit down at Medupi Power station as a result of the hydrogen explosion.

There’s a unit that’s going to be out of service for at least the next 12 months at Koeberg Power Station as they do the life extension and the replacement of the steam generators at Koeberg,” Yelland said.

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Elon Musk’s solar and wind battery farm

South African born Elon Musk’s solar and wind battery farm from Tesla which is an almost total success in Australia could be a solution to the current energy crisis in South Africa, Yelland said.

“One of the few positive spins on this very significant price increase announced yesterday is that it makes the biggest case for alternative energy solutions such as rooftop solar and battery energy storage solutions better and better. It reached a stage where it actually becomes a no-brainer.”

“I believe in battery energy storage not just from Elon Musk’s activities, but from a very wide range of manufacturers stretching from China, to Korea, to the Unites States and even the potential for battery energy storage and manufacturing and assembly in South Africa itself,” Yelland added.

Don’t rely on government

Yelland also said South African should not rely entirely on government to resolve the current energy crisis.

“My personal view is that if we are looking to government on energy and electricity, we are in the wrong place. The solutions will not be coming from government, the solutions will be coming from the customer of electricity.”

“Government has a role to play, but I believe its role should be somewhat limited to put in place a guide and ensuring that all the fundamentals for the private sector are sound and to put out the right economic signals,” Yelland said.