4 hours ago, plonkster said:

To prevent abuse I think.

In CoCT:
If Eskom supplies your power, you are referred to Eskom.
If CoCT supplies your power, they also maintain the electrical infrastructure, they want to know what is on there system.

Pretty reasonable if you ask me.

 

 

5 hours ago, ebrsa said:

... notable exception that registration of stand-alone installations is not required.

Did a bit of Googling. Seems that NERSA was behind the registration, and the pulled back late 2018.

So today it does not appear to be a requirement anymore. But then I recall reading here on the forum that there are fees being contemplated by NERSA, of they have been stopped.

So what is the national outlook on registration and fees around solar?

CoCT, being the electricity supplier in certain areas, has a bylaw for registering solar system, grid-tied / off-grid, with no fees applicable.

Edited May 8, 20197 yr by Guest

@The Terrible Triplett I remember NERSA issued what seemed to be quite insane registration requirements. As I recall all solar generation equipment below 10Kw had to register and over that one had to apply for registration as a power station. I guess it would include an 18 year old Casio watch I have that has a solar panel in the bezel to charge the internal battery,  not that I wear it any longer but it lies on my desk and works perfectly. It would also mean that someone in the outback living in a reed hut and who has a 5W or maybe less solar panel to charge a mobile phone for instance, would also have to register. I never took much notice of this braindamaged nonsense and NERSA was forced to withdraw it as a result of the public outcry.

But NERSA is yet another bureaucracy making our lives a misery by wanting to control everything possible. I doubt we have heard the last from them. Having spent all my life being controlled by idiotic politcians, my patience has run out. What on earth has happened that we have never experienced individual freedom since Jan van Riebeeck set foot in Table Bay.

9 minutes ago, ebrsa said:

I doubt we have heard the last from them.

They are compelled by law to come up with something. What they came up with was too vague. It ended up looping in off-grid systems on farms and possibly even backup generators, and it made room for a registration fee without being specific about the amount. The issue actually been around since 2015.

The media ran the story as "government wants to tax your solar panels". People read the headline on social media without reading the article. I still hear uninformed people saying to their friends "yeah and these idiots want to tax the sun!".

@plonkster Do you know what NERSA is supposed to do in terms of legislation and do you perhaps have any knowledge of which legislation applies. All this bureaucracy can only lead to discourage people from installing renewable energy. If the objective is to ensure the stabillity and reliability of Eskom and municipal grids, then only the connection and what is connected needs to be controlled. But they always come up with a lot of requirements that is quite unnecessary, at least in my view.

Apart from braving the rain this morning to go and vote for yet another bunch of faceless and probably useless politicians I also took a look at municipal property rates for the current year for specific reasons. This probably does not belong here but I mention it to illustrate the point. The Municipal Rates Act requires property rates to be published as a cent amount in the Rand of valuation in Section 14.(2)(b)(iii). CoCT published theirs in Provincial Gazette 7960 of 20 July 2018 as "The cent-in-the-rand to be levied on all residential properties, as defined per the Rates Policy for 2018/19, is R 0.007154." So since the law requires the rates to be cents in the Rand, it means 0.007154 cents per Rand of valuation and the R in front of the amount is meaningless. On this legal basis I am sure Capetonians will find that they have been overcharged some 9900%. Of all the municpalities that I could find in the Provincial Gazettes from June to July 2018 and I hope that was all of them in the Western Cape, only two complied with the Act, Saldanha and Theewaterskloof. So maybe we should all start class actions and claim back what does not comply with legislation.

Edited May 8, 20197 yr by ebrsa

44 minutes ago, ebrsa said:

Do you know what NERSA is supposed to do in terms of legislation and do you perhaps have any knowledge of which legislation applies

The linked document says: To ensure a seamless interconnection with the network service provider, it is proposed that the embedded generator will submit an application to the licensed distributor, who will assess the status of its network to determine its technical capacity to accommodate the new generator.

Going back a bit, just reading through that discussion document, the electricity regulation act of 2006 says no person may operate a generation facility without a license, except in a handful of cases of which home use (constructed and operated for own use). So anyone who wants to SELL power to the grid in any way needs some kind of license. So that's the first part, any SSEG that feeds power into the grid, by law, needs some kind of license.

The document then adds that even zero- or net-consumption generators needs this because of the grid connection.

So because of the electricity regulation act, something is needed for small generators, and NERSA has to come up with it. The idea is something that is less work than what you would normally require for a power station...

🙂

That is all I know really.

The discussion paper clearly excludes things that are not connected to the grid, eg off-grid systems on farms, backup generators, etc. The intent was clearly not to regulate off-grid systems... but somehow the media thought so.

I have received the below reply from the CoCT regarding my enquiry to increase the capacity of the single phase electricity supply from 60A to 80A to be able to register my 4.6kW inverter. So it looks like all the doors have (at least for now) been closed by the city to successfully register an SSEG >3.5kW on a single phase supply ☹️. I will keep on fighting this issue and report back. If there is anybody else in CT in the same situation I would like to hear from you. 

 

Good day, 

Application to increase your NMD to increase your SSEG allocation is not acceptable practise and will not be entertained.

 

Regards

Shiraaz Swartland (Pr Tech Eng)
Principal Professional Officer: Service Connection Planning (SCP) – North

Tel: 021 444 2177 | Fax: 086 696 6068 | Cell: 083 324 2908 |  Email:      [email protected]  | Web: www.capetown.gov.za

Not a very nice reply. If you want a 80A and you are willing to pay for it, why can they deny you?

 

 

3 hours ago, Fuenkli said:

Application to increase your NMD to increase your SSEG allocation is not acceptable practise and will not be entertained.

I see what they are saying and why as the >3.5kw inverters are more for 3 phase connections.

Don't see them budging on this one. Go behind their backs - get a Sparkie to do it and let him get is passed. THEN do the application again.

Or just get a <3.5kw unit and be done. 🙂 

Nice little video on what CoCT wants and why:

 

Here's a discussion on embedded generation and Eskom (from around 11:44) and what it means for municipalities:

https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/2019-05-15-watch-what-embedded-generation-means-for-eskom/

29 minutes ago, IdlePhaedrus said:

Here's a discussion on embedded generation and Eskom (from around 11:44) and what it means for municipalities:

https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/2019-05-15-watch-what-embedded-generation-means-for-eskom/

At 16:11... "well I wouldn't give a toss about city councils [who use the money for other things], they already collect the money now, and they are not paying over to Eskom...". Almost fell off my chair laughing...

Edited May 16, 20197 yr by plonkster

23 minutes ago, plonkster said:

At 16:11... "well I wouldn't give a toss about city councils [who use the money for other things], they already collect the money now, and they are not paying over to Eskom...". Almost fell off my chair laughing...

O man, Sikonathi is the man!!! Give him a bells.

Interesting to see that lady advocating the loss of income to Munic's, where both the guys are saying, don't hold the customer to ransom, move on, get a grip, change your business model.

I'm just waiting to hear HOW early mornings / evenings / bad weather power needs will be resolved. The same problem that is internationally plaguing renewables.

I hear that our minister of (non) energy said they are going to encourage people to go solar. 

Confusing times.... 

1 hour ago, Johandup said:

I hear that our minister of (non) energy said they are going to encourage people to go solar. 

What are the chances that they (the Gov) knows that the time is now to let us grid tied.
Let us feed back, pay us for that to mitigate Eskom's generation expenses.
... make solar equipment VAT free. Ok ok, this one is pushing it. 🙂 

But seriously, what if they know they need to make a fast move?

They already give tax break on solar equipment for businesses.

4 hours ago, The Terrible Triplett said:

I'm just waiting to hear HOW early mornings / evenings / bad weather power needs will be resolved. The same problem that is internationally plaguing renewables.

There was a brief interview with Ted Blom on CapeTalk this morning at the Africa Utility Week conference at the CTICC.  I didn't catch the whole thing, and there isn't a podcast, but at the end they discussed peak rates.

So, for example, CoCT gets charged by Eskom as much as R5 per unit during peak periods.  IIRC winter time is the worst.  Us as consumers get a blended single rate year round.

Internationally, for rooftop, this is 'solved' by rooftop solar combined with battery storage and a 'smart' bi-directional meter.

That can be exploited to the benefit of all parties in the value chain from consumer, through municipality to utility.

So, you can export energy from your batteries at peak times and get a better rate than you would from your solar at mid-day.

This implies a 'smart grid' also, which we don't have, or certainly no systems to manage this.

But that is the basic theory and it isn't rocket science.

Given the CoCT video you sent earlier, they don't consider your capital outlay as part of the infrastructure or deserves any reciprocal effort, and the rules they have in place clearly discourage feed back (which are amusingly discussed in the video I followed with).  And CoCT is the best of the bunch.

http://www.702.co.za/articles/348644/opening-up-electricity-generation-expect-an-explosion-in-the-market

 

Edited May 16, 20197 yr by IdlePhaedrus

4 minutes ago, IdlePhaedrus said:

... the rules they have in place clearly discourage feed back ...

Just to note, that vid was BEFORE the minister jumped in this week and said solar is a go for businesses.

CoCT could vary well make an about turn now that NERSA has been told differently. 🙂 

As I said before, CoCT is driven by SANS / NRS and NERSA. 

14 minutes ago, IdlePhaedrus said:

http://www.702.co.za/articles/348644/opening-up-electricity-generation-expect-an-explosion-in-the-market

Did you hear what Ted said about in that interview re. the IVP's milking Eskom?

7 minutes ago, The Terrible Triplett said:

Just to note, that vid was BEFORE the minister jumped in this week and said solar is a go for businesses.

Agreed, and with his announcement residential rooftop isn't covered either.

7 minutes ago, The Terrible Triplett said:

CoCT could vary well make an about turn now that NERSA has been told differently.

IBIWISI

7 minutes ago, The Terrible Triplett said:

As I said before, CoCT is driven by SANS / NRS and NERSA. 

To a certain extent yes, but they could have pushed the boundaries a bit, which they haven't, so I am sceptical regarding motives..

7 minutes ago, The Terrible Triplett said:

Did you hear what Ted said about in that interview re. the IVP's milking Eskom?

No, not yet, I tacked that on as it looked relevant.  Am currently listening to the state capture enquiry wrt Transnet, which is just as scary.

17 minutes ago, IdlePhaedrus said:

No, not yet,

I was not aware of this, and now I am sick to my stomach.There MAY be somerhing a lot more serious behind Eskom, than what we are told.

IPP's ... did we know that - out of the 57 deals deals signed so far - signed at more than R4.50 per kw with Eskoms retail price to households averages < R1.00:
That IPP's are taking a LOT of Eskoms funds? To the tune of:
34bil lost last year by Eskom, paid to IPP's?
R50bil this year, whether Eskom uses the power or not.
Next year it is up to R80bil that Eskom must pay IPP's.

Now IPP's are private co's ... and the Gov is vrot of deals made behind the table to enrich a few right?

If this kind of money flows out of Eskom to private co's ... maybe we want to know WHO these private co's are!?

Maybe the IPP's are wanting to hold SA to ransom, that they are the ones forcing the stupid rules down our throats using the civil servants (CoCT) ... like it has never happened in SA.

Can Eskom's woes get any worse ... YES! ... now that it comes out that some (not all I HOPE) IPP's are raping SA at R4.50 per kw?

 

1 hour ago, The Terrible Triplett said:

maybe we want to know WHO these private co's are!?

Just the minister of non-energy and his brother in law Patrick who is also the president's swaer. And the infamous Bossassa Watson. For some anyway. 

Lol

The question is who decided on the high IPP tariffs. They must come to explain. 

The word #smart must not be mentioned in a sa context. 

They battle with smart meters in the first world countries. Let's keep to candle technology. 

Oh, and don't hold your breath on the new Guvament solar rules. Nersa is one confused organisation. The Aintcee knows sh$t is coming with eishkom..... 

Edited May 16, 20197 yr by Johandup

I'm confused - I have no doubt Ted Blom knows what he is talking about, but all reports say the IPP programme has been a success. Yes, the first round resulted in high kWh tariffs but subsequent rounds the rates reduced dramatically to a level of R0.86/kWh weighted ave (solar and wind were cheaper) from R2.65/kWH in Bid Window 1. The tariffs were result of bidding process and the objective was to kickstart RE projects, and at the time, that was the price of RE power.....

The lowest bidder determined the price and Eskom was obligated to accept it as part of the REIPPP. for certain allocated amounts of MW for each energy type. Future rounds will be below Eskom ave.cost and far lower than Kusile and Medupi. Also don't forget that any RE power on grid mitigated loadshedding or the alternative cost of diesel run generators at R7/kWh....

It's great that Radebe is talking about opening up but I doubt it will have much effect on residential installations. Small business in Eskom areas will hopefully benefit as will larger business provided they add some incentives. CoCT and several other  munis already allows feed-in - just not very attractive feed-in and it's unlikely (as T Blom says) that Eskom feed-in will be any better. 

What we need is clarity on rules and regs and ideally some incentive to feed in. The alternative is more and more PV with storage systems as prices start dropping below that of Eskoms cost price - which by the looks of things is where we are headed anyway.

53 minutes ago, PeterP said:

I'm confused ...

I recall reading articles a long while back where the very high kwh costs where mentioned, like R4.50 and above, for renewables, costs that Eskom cannot afford, that if they go the renewables route that they are tied into these contracts whether they use the power or not. Cannot recall who was in charge, but he baulked and stopped the signing up of new IPP's.

So when Ted Blom said that he can be taken to court if they want, that the truth can come out, said the exact same things I read a long while back, now that caught my attention!

I mean, this formula has never happened in SA, has it?
1) Big headline articles in the media about a problem/s brewing.
2) Then nothing, dead quiet.
3) Bits and pieces surfaces again here and there, or not, nothing grabs the headlines.
4) Then again nothing, not a whisper.
5) Then a new piece of information pops up, no-one saw it coming, still few notice.
6) The next moment all hell breaks loose.

We are now on level 5 I would guess, with Eskom.

Recall the engineers that offered to help Eskom?
Gordhan said they / he will report back in 2 weeks on their findings to Parly.
Close to the end of the two weeks, nope, he said, still lots of works. Need another two (?) weeks.
Then nothing. Not a word. Nada one little titbit whatsoever at all. 
Where have the engineers gone?

I'm with @PeterP on this one.  For now I am going to take Blom's R4.50 claim with a dollop of salt.

Here are the contracted prices for each of bid windows (up to 4) by power source:  https://www.sapvia.co.za/facts-figures/ and indeed the numbers were high for Windows 1 & 2, but no where near R4.50.

So, what could explain his number? 

1. He might be doing the same as this article and extrapolating those prices to today's prices, but this doesn't mean that is the amount that Eskom is paying as the prices are contracted.
2. Prices weren't negotiated in Rand.  This would be unlikely, and stupid.
3. Abnormally high contracted annual increases (non inflation linked for example).  This seems unlikely, but see 4.
4. Corruption.

As we all know 4 is a distinct possibility, and if he knows about corruption in this sector he should take it to Zondo.