Cloudy and unfavourable conditions for solar energy production is one of the reasons that SA hit Stage 6 load shedding last week, experts say. But this is not a true reflection of reality, says Solar PV Industry Association (SAPVIA).

SAPVIA has released a statement responding to Electricity Minister, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa’s, comments at a media briefing at the weekend. The Minister identified (among other factors) “non-performing renewables” as the cause for a ramp up in the load shedding schedule.

“The Minister’s comments misrepresented the role that renewable energy - and, in particular, solar PV - has to play in the nation’s energy mix,” says chief executive of SAPVIA, Rethabile Melamu.

Industry experts at the AMEU Highvweld / SARPA Gauteng Branch Meeting held on 15 February agreed that renewables were partly a cause for Stage 6 load shedding last week as cloudy conditions impacted non-dispatchable generation. “However, in Gauteng for example, you have only 51 overcast days in a year,” said Paul Vermeulen, Gauteng-chair of the Association of Municipal Electricity Utilities. “There are 300 other days when the sun is shining perfectly and solar power is making a contribution that certainly would have prevented load shedding on many days.”

When Stage 6 was announced on 10 February, total renewable production was 1 661MW, more than double the total production during the same hour the previous week when load shedding was at Stage 2, SAPVIA said in a statement. Furthermore the total wind and solar PV production was 95% of the average hourly renewable production for the period 28 January to 11 February, a 360-hour period. Without renewable energy production, Stage 7 or 8 would likely have been implemented.