The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) has invited generation facility owners, who were previously exempted from the licensing requirement by Schedule II of the Electricity Regulation Act, 2006 (ERA), to apply for registration.
On 26 March 2020, the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy repealed the Licensing Exemption and Registration Notice, published in Government Gazette No. 41237, Vol. 629, and replaced it with the amended Licensing Exemption and Registration Notice, published in Government Gazette No. 43151, Vol. 657 (‘the Notice’).
Section 3 of the Notice details the activities that are exempted from the requirement to apply for and hold a licence under the ERA. However, these activities have to be registered with NERSA.
Subsection 3.4 of the Notice further allows continued operation of an existing generation facility, which, immediately prior to the date of commencement of the Notice, was exempted from the requirement to apply for and hold a licence under the ERA, in circumstances in which:
- The generation facility has complied with the Distribution Code and/or Transmission Code and is connected to the transmission or distribution power system; and
- The generation facility has filed for registration within six months of commencement of the registration process by NERSA.
“Licensed distributors (Eskom and municipalities) are encouraged to ensure that generation facilities that are connected to their electricity network are registered with NERSA.
“NERSA remains committed to processing registration applications timeously to ensure the security of supply. All other registration requirements, as prescribed by NERSA in terms of section 9(2) of the ERA, remain in place,” the regulator said on Tuesday. – SAnews.gov.za
