The migration of residents and businesses from the grid to solar panels is causing Eskom and the government to lose millions in revenue, as stated by Pravin Gordhan.
In response to questions from DA MP Ghaleb Cachalia in parliament this week, the public enterprises minister revealed that electricity generated from solar panels had surged by 350% from March 2022 to March of this year.
“This increase in reliance on renewable energy is a welcome development for the environment, but poses a significant challenge to municipalities, which derive the majority of their income from electricity sales,” Gordhan said.
Among those affected was Buffalo City in East London, which lost R350m, he said.
“The uptake has been driven largely by customers seeking alternative energy sources due to load-shedding, followed by those wanting to buffer against the upward annual electricity tariff trends and those pursuing greener options aligned with climate change objectives.
“The uptake of small-scale embedded generators (SSEGs) has resulted in the displacement of traditional grid-supplied energy volumes.”
The increase in solar panel adoption this year was further boosted by incentive programs, including Sars tax rebates, appealing distributor feed-in tariffs, such as those in Cape Town, and the National Treasury energy loan guarantee scheme, as noted by Pravin Gordhan.
In April, Cape Town announced a significant investment in independent power suppliers to enhance grid stability and reduce the impact of load-shedding.
“Customers with SSEG installations realise a reduction of about 39% on their overall electricity bill, which translates into a 21% impact on the Eskom margin,” said Gordhan.
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