The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomed the Supreme Court of Appeal’s dismissal of the Coal Transporters Forum’s (CTF) bid to have the court set aside the power purchase agreements (PPAs) Eskom signed with independent power producers (IPPs) in 2018.
“We trust that this ruling will now provide certainty to the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement (REIPPP) process.
“It will show that IPPs can rely on government’s commitment to honour their contracts with these producers,” Mileham said in a statement issued on Monday afternoon.
Mileham said Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe could show his commitment to IPPs by urgently entering into discussions with them in order to purchase excess electricity – above the Maximum Export Capacity agreed to in the PPAs.
“The Minister cannot continue to drag his feet.
“It has been over a month since President Cyril Ramaphosa, in his state of the nation address (Sona), announced that section 34 determinations would be issued shortly to increase generation capacity; and that his government would work to open bid window 5 of the renewable energy IPPs,” he said.
The MP said while Eskom has suspended load shedding, the reality was that it was only temporary and the country will soon be subjected to rolling blackouts again.
“It is therefore important that IPPs are brought on board urgently to increase generation capacity and to free South Africans from Eskom’s monopoly over energy,” Mileham concluded.
