The Department of Energy (DoE) expects to release procurement documents for a baseload independent power producer (IPP) programme during the third quarter of 2013, and has confirmed that the programme will be in accordance with a determination released by Energy Minister Dipuo Peters on December 19, 2012.

The determination, which was published with the concurrence of National Energy Regulator of South Africa chairperson Cecilia Khuzwayo, outlines the DoE’s intention to procure from IPPs generating power from coal, natural gas and hydro-electric facilities.

Envisaged is the introduction of 2 500 MW of private coal-fired capacity between 2014 and 2024, 2 652 MW of new natural gas and diesel-fuelled power generation between 2021 and 3025, and 2 609 MW of mostly imported hydropower between 2022 and 2024.

The IPP electricity will be procured through one or more procurement programmes and will be bought either by Eskom or by any successor entity designated by the Energy Minister.

The DoE tells Engineering News that the documents are still under development and it is, thus, difficult to outline any precise timeframe for the process.

“The procurement documents will be released with the schedule for that parti- cular programme. It is important to note though that the megawatts should be on grid as indicated in the different determinations.”

The DoE has also not scheduled a bidders conference, but says that one might be necessary for the new technologies.

In December, the department also postponed the third bid-window submission deadline for the renewables procurement programme from May 7 to August 19 to incorporate lessons from the first two bid windows.

The approach to be taken will be presented in the form of a new request for proposals, which should be published in February and will be based on a separate Ministerial determination covering renewables, which was also published on December 19.

The Department has already announced that it will procure at least 1 000 MW of renewables capacity yearly and has allocated a further 3 200 MW to various technologies. This figure is additional to the 3 625 MW currently being procured.