The Road to Connecting Customer-Owned Small-Scale Generators to the Eskom Grid

The road to connecting customer-owned small-scale generators to the Eskom grid

Small and Micro Generation (SMG) Bulletin 1

Introduction

There is great interest from customers in having their own generation installations so that they can control the amount of electricity supplied by Eskom at all times.The installation of grid-tied generation means that embedded generators are connected to the Eskom grid, either directly or through the wiring of the customer’s electrical equipment, so that the generators operate in parallel with the Eskom grid. This type of connection requires Eskom’s permission. These generation installations do not form part of government-sanctioned programme and for many customers of these grid-tied generation installations, no permission has been obtained from Eskom to connect their generation to the Eskom grid. This is in breach of their existing electricity supply agreement and may also contravene the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Such grid-tied generation installations are therefore illegal and will compromise not only the safety of the staff members working on the Eskom grid but also the reliable operation of the Eskom grid.

Currently, there are neither SABS technical standards nor clear and coherent national regulatory rules or codes issued by the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) and National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) for small-scale grid-tied embedded generation.

Eskom Small-scale embedded generation Framework

Eskom is working proactively on a small-scale embedded generation framework. A steering committee was established in June 2014 to guide the development and implementation of the framework. The steering committee is comprised of different representatives from various specialised areas, namely the legal, technical, financial departments in the organisation to mention but a few.

Eskom has also given inputs into the rules that NERSA is currently developing for small-scale renewable embedded generation. The SMG Framework is crucial to enabling Eskom to provide grid connection for the small-scale embedded generators when the NERSA rules and the required technical standards have been approved.

What the small-scale embedded generation framework covers

The Eskom small-scale embedded generation framework covers all internal business processes required for the successful management of privately owned grid-tied generation with a generation capacity of less than 1 MW.

There are three distinct categories for generation of less than 1 MW, namely:  Category 1: Eskom supply point at medium voltage (greater than 1 000 V), grid-tied,  Category 2: Eskom supply point at low voltage (less than 1 000 V), grid-tied with a dedicated MV/LV Eskom transformer, and 1  Category 3: Eskom supply point at low voltage, grid-tied and on shared low-voltage networks, typically for residential-type customers (one MV/LV Eskom transformer serving many LV customers).

Eskom’s current position on small-scale embedded generation

As there are no SABS standards for the connection of embedded generators at low voltage (<1 000 V), their connection to the grid could pose a safety risk to staff members working on the network. Eskom has developed an interim operating guideline for dedicated low-voltage networks with embedded generation, which should be applied in the absence of the SABS national standards and regulations. The Eskom solution for Category 2 connections, such as those on farms, is being investigated in pilot projects across the country. Once these connections have been successfully tested and implemented, they will be used for all other types of similar projects. At this stage, residential-type connections with an integrated low-voltage network still require further work.There are currently no solutions for Category 3-type installations and Eskom does not allow these connections to be made. It is anticipated that Eskom will have an interim solution for this by the middle of 2016. If customers have already installed grid-tied generation and are not part of the pilot project, irrespective of the category type, the customer must be informed that the generation installation has to be disconnected immediately from the Eskom supply and may no longer be grid-tied. Any supplier who informs a customer that they can be grid-tied and “reverse” the Eskom meter is giving the customer incorrect information.

Small-scale embedded generation queries

Once the pilot projects have been completed, applications for the connection of grid-tied embedded generation will be handled by the Grid Access Unit. The GAU Senior IPPs Executives who are located across the country will provide an end-to-end service and facilitate the Eskom process for the installation of grid-tied embedded generators. The Eskom Contact Centres have been advised to refer all calls or enquiries to the relevant GAU Senior IPPs Executives. Similarly, any queries raised through other Eskom Customer Service channels should be forwarded to the GAU to be dealt with. A letter of immediate disconnection of generation will be issued to all customers with grid-tied generation who did not obtain permission from Eskom. Eskom will enforce the disconnection of the entire supply if the customer does not comply.

Completion of the small-scale generation framework

It is envisaged that the SMG framework will be completed in 2016/2017 but interim solutions can be used while the framework is being finalised, so that Eskom can accept applications in a controlled manner, in cases where technical solutions exist. More information about these pilot projects will be communicated in the future SMG bulletins.

Illegal connections

A customer-owned generator that is grid-tied without the necessary Eskom permission is an illegal connection and the customer will be informed via a formal procedure that the generator must be disconnected.

For more information please visit the small-scale embedded generation webpage on http://www.eskom.co.za/Whatweredoing/Pages/SmallMicroGeneration-.aspx

For any enquiries, please contact the following people:

 Ravi Moonsamy, Eskom SMG Framework Project Manager on [email protected] /+27 33 395 3737/ +27 83 635 0253 and  Wolfgang Bohmer, Eskom SMG Framework Programme Manager on [email protected]/ +27 83 262 2930.