Energy regulator Nersa has approved that the National Transmission Company of South Africa be issued with a licence to operate a transmission system.
“This is a milestone decision by the energy regulator and will immensely contribute in Eskom’s unbundling trajectory,” Nersa chair Thembani Bukula said.
At the 2019 state of the nation address, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that Eskom would be unbundled into three wholly owned entities: generation, transmission and distribution.
“The NTC is envisioned to be an independent transmission system operator incorporating … the currently non-licensable but integrated functions of network provision, system operation and system planning.
“The NTC’s independence is an important signal to all stakeholders, including investors, that they will have non-discriminatory access to the transmission system,” Nersa said.
Furthermore, the NTC is responsible for ensuring grid stability, to which end it is allowed to buy and sell power, but not for profit.
“However, in terms of section 15(1) of the act, the NTC will be afforded the opportunity to recover its efficiently incurred costs and a reasonable return on its assets,” the regulator said.
The NTC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Eskom.