More renewable energy sources added to REFIT

Biomass, biogas and three varieties of solar power technology were on Friday added to the list of renewable energy sources that qualify for feed-in tariffs to be paid by Eskom.

The tariffs, known in South Africa as Refit, are set to top up earnings of independent power producers (IPPs). They are determined by the National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa).

The latest tariffs are

• R3.13 a kilowatt-hour for concentrating solar power without storage;
• R3.94 for grid-connected solar photovoltaic systems producing more than 1 megawatt;
• R1.18 for solid biomass;
• 96c for biogas; and
• R2.31 for concentrating solar power with six hours of storage.

It estimated that the cost of generating electricity from coal would more than triple from 51.9c a kilowatt-hour this year to R1.66 in 2030, while the cost of power from nuclear sources would increase from 72c a kilowatt-hour to R1.76.

Meanwhile, the cheapest renewable generation technology in two decades would be landfill gas at 75c a kilowatt-hour, down from 90c currently, Nersa forecast. The next cheapest source would be biogas at nearly 87c a kilowatt-hour, against 93c currently.

Wind and biomass were projected to be the next cheapest in 2030 at about 89c a kilowatt-hour, down from R1.25 and R1.18, respectively.

Original article: Ingi Salgado. Business Report. 2 November 2009. Read more…