by Patson Phiri – SANF 06 No 20
Southern African countries have taken a decisive step to avert a looming energy shortfall by signing a revised agreement that brings in new players and takes into account present realities in the sector.
The agreement was signed on 23 February by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Council of Ministers in Gaborone.
Bringing in new players such as the private sector, the agreement is a revision of the 1995 Inter-Governmental Memorandum of Understanding establishing the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP).
The revised MOU is an “integral part of SADC’s efforts to create an appropriate enabling environment for the development of the private sector and foreign direct investment into the region,” said Baledzi Gaolathe, Botswana’s minister of finance who chaired the Council.
Gaolathe said the reconstituted power pool takes on board private investors to widen supply and meet demand that is rising with industrial growth amid lack of corresponding investment.
The move is also meant to recognise other new developments like the restructuring of SADC and its institutions, particularly the dissolution of the electricity sub-committee.
SAPP membership has been increased from 10 to 12 countries, thus covering all mainland SADC countries. The two Indian Ocean islands of Madagascar and Mauritius are not part of the pact.
The landmark agreement puts in motion a joint effort by electricity utilities and their governments to combine resources in the supply of power in a region that is threatened with power shortfalls by next year.
It is estimated that the region has a combined total installed generation capacity of 52,743 megawatts (MW) while net generation output is about 45,000MW. A generation reserve capacity of 10.2 percent must be maintained but it is feared this may be exhausted as early as 2007 at current demand growth levels.
During the 10 years of its existence, SAPP has initiated a number of joint initiatives. In October 1995, the Matimba-Phokoje Unsikamini 400 kV inter-connector was completed, linking Eskom of South Africa and the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority via the Botswana Power Corporation.
The inter-connector between Songo in Mozambique and Bindura in Zimbabwe was completed in 1997 while the 400 kV line between Aggeneis in South Africa and Koberboom in Namibia was also commissioned.
“These inter-connectors have increased the reliability of supply in the region and assisted in meeting the demand growth, which is driven by population numbers and by the increase in the effective demand,” said Namibia’s Minister of Energy, Erkki Nghimtina, after the signing of the agreement.
“SAPP is indeed a shining example of successful regional integration and cooperation. It is the desire of SADC that all SADC institutions produce results, like SAPP has done,” said Nghimtina.
SAPP is now undertaking efforts to implement the priority generation and transmission projects as spelt out in its 2005-2010 strategic plan. The targeted projects are those that are intended to address the impending deficit in generation capacity.
Priority is also on connecting the SADC member states that are not yet linked to SAPP. They include Angola, Malawi and Tanzania. Efforts are underway to connect the affected countries to the regional grid.
Another ambitious new project, the Western Corridor Project, aims to initially interconnect power utilities of Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia and South Africa. Plans are afoot to extend the initiative to the rest of the region.
