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There is absolutely no relief in sight for Gauteng residents who are being subjected to daily power cuts. Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi admits that at this stage, the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) does not procure power for direct distribution to citizens or businesses.

This information was revealed to me in a reply to my questions tabled in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) regarding the possible procurement of hydroelectricity for the province.

According to the Premier, there are ten significant dams in the province but none of them are deemed suitable for hydro-power production. Historic attempts by the City of Tshwane to run hydro-power production to proof-of-concept level at Rietvlei dam specifically have generated poor yields and indicated that such an approach is not commercially scalable.

In addition, the GPG is now more focused on microgrids to enable increased energy efficiency for large energy consumers. These microgrid systems will focus on cleaner energy solutions such as LNG, renewable energy and energy storage. While this is a step in the right direction more needs to be done to ensure that the entire province is less reliant on Eskom so that the number of blackouts experienced per week can be reduced.

The DA is very surprised at this answer as it would appear as if the Vaal dam is the most viable option to use for hydroelectricity. We will be submitting further questions in the GPL, to ascertain exactly who had carried out the research and why it is deemed not to be a feasible option to use the dams for hydroelectricity. It is high time that Gauteng considers sourcing electricity from independent power producers to ensure that the wheels of the economy continue to turn despite the country now being on stage 6 loadshedding.

Issued by Patrick Atkinson MPL - DA Gauteng Spokesperson for Finance