Eskom is gearing up to install electric car chargers across South Africa to support the growing “electric mobility (eMobility) sector”.
The power utility announced its plans this past weekend at the Formula E Fest event in Cape Town. And yes, this is as the country continues to endure daily blackouts. The utility plans to make it easier to charge electric cars while South Africans continue to struggle to make a hot cup of tea or take a hot bath.
Anyways, the utility seems to have a plan and has already invested millions toward its ambitions.
If you’re into motorsport (or not), you probably noticed the surprise on social media stemming from Formula E in Cape Town this past weekend.
Eskom is one of the sponsors for Formula E race this weekend. You can’t make this ish up 😂 pic.twitter.com/PBPGjtRNlF
— Kwenza B (@kwenza_b) February 24, 2023
It wasn’t the great cars that got tongues wagging, but the shock of seeing (‘broke’) Eskom as one of the sponsors of the event. In a statement, it announced that its R2.1m E-Fest sponsorship aims to “profile” the utility’s microgrid technology and mobility solution.
This was as the country was recovering from explosive corruption-related allegations from the utility’s ex-CEO.
Also, that was just a few days after Minister Enoch Godongwana announced a partial bailout for Eskom.
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The power supplier says it has already submitted the residential time-of-use charging tariff to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) for approval.
“This will enable EV(electric vehicle) owners to achieve significant savings when using the off-peak and standard periods to charge their cars, encouraging EV uptake and boosting electricity sales,” noted the utility in a statement on Saturday.
Eskom Group Executive for Distribution, Monde Bala says this is in line with its Just Energy Transition (JET) vision which aims to achieve “net zero” carbon emissions by 2050.
Bela was speaking at Africa’s Green Economy Summit this past Saturday.
Microgrids across SA
In the next five years, Eskom says it will roll out microgrids across South Africa that will double up to supply alternative power to address load shedding in communities and also function as charging stations for electric cars.
“Most of the identified sites will use solar photovoltaic (PV) as the primary source of energy and Lithium Ion batteries for storage capability,” it says.
Eskom says several sites across South Africa are already powered by microgrid technology. These are Ficksburg in the Free State, Lynedoch in the Western Cape, and Swartkop in Northern Cape.
It says it also plans to use battery storage in its electric vehicle charging tech.
“Eskom is making notable progress in this regard with the construction of the first energy storage facility under Eskom’s flagship Battery Energy Storage Systems project already begun at the Elandskop BESS site in KwaZulu-Natal in December last year,” says the utility.
Eskom’s cars go electric
As part of a pilot, the power utility says it plans to introduce 13,000 electric cars to its fleet, including utility and passenger cars.
“Plans are underway to begin the process of converting the rest of the Eskom fleet to electric where possible.”