Wheeling options discussed at symposium in George

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GEORGE NEWS & VIDEO - Enpower in co-operation with George Municipality held a 'Wheeling and Trading' symposium at Hawthorn Boutique Hotel in George on Wednesday 8 February where the challenges and complexities of incorporating alternative power supply into the municipal grid were discussed.

It was attended by delegates from municipalities as far as KwaZulu-Natal and Swellendam, as well as other stakeholders such as the Department of Economic Development and Training, South African Local Government Association (Salga) and various private businesses that have developed software and systems that will enable municipalities to effectively engage in wheeling and trading of electricity.

George Mayor Leon van Wyk said the city is a pioneer in the country in terms of the development of wheeling policies and operations.

The aim is to reduce load-shedding for Georgians so that they can be exempt from stage 1 and stage 2 in about 18 months, and later also free from stage 3 and 4.

"The municipality is working closely with the Western Cape Government in an effort to speed up the processes. We have to overcome a lot of technical difficulties. Environmental impact studies have to be done for solar generation, there are legal requirements that must be met, and financing has to be sourced to establish the plants."

There are three potential sources of additional energy for a municipality, namely through its own alternative generation plant(s), directly from a private power producer, or from a producer via Eskom.

According to George Municipality's electrotechnical director, Bongani Mandla, a pilot project is already running where a private producer is wheeling electricity directly through the municipal grid to four of its own customers.

VIDEO: Municipalities discuss wheeling

He said one of the challenges faced by municipalities in accepting alternative supply onto the municipal grid is ensuring that the infrastructure is ready for additional power feed. Another one is the development of a standardised 'use-of-system' agreement by the municipality.

This is underway in co-operation with the Western Cape Provincial Government and will make it easier for other generators and traders to connect to the municipal network, said Mandla.

Overcoming the Eskom deposit

Another hurdle to be overcome is a deposit or guarantee required by Eskom when power from a private producer is wheeled through the power utility's grid. The guarantee is equal to three times a municipality's highest monthly bill. For George that is in the range of R200m, which is not within the city's reach, but according to Mandla the mayor has already written to the Premier in this regard.

"There are discussions to get this process underway where we can get support in terms of having these guarantees in place. This will enable us to wheel any excess energy available to us, also through Eskom, to be able to reduce the impact to our customers.”

Free software for municipalities

Among the presenters was Gerjo Hoffman, CEO and a founder of Open Access Energy, the company that has developed freely licensed software for municipalities wanting to incorporate wheeling.

In May last year, George became the first electricity provider in the country to pilot this software. It automates the reading, processing, and billing of electricity smart meter data.

The manual billing process was one of the main challenges the municipality faced when implementing the pilot project last year.

Resolving this meant reducing reliance and pressure on key human resources, and so reducing potential errors in the billing process, which the software enabled the municipality to do.

From left are Gerjo Hoffman (presenter, Open Access Energy), Philip van Niekerk (presenter, Enpower Trading), Mayor of Msunduzi in KwaZulu-Natal Mzimkhulu Thebolla, George Mayor Leon van Wyk, George electrotechnical director Bongani Mandla, Jeandré van Zyl (presenter, Solar Energy Africa), Josh Dippenaar (presenter, Sustainable Energy Africa) and Jemaine Cupido (symposium chairman).