The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) would announce a decision on the review of the renewable energy feed-in tariffs (Refit) in mid-June 2011, it said on Tuesday.

Nersa, which initially expected to complete the Refit review on May 26, said it delayed an announcement owing to the significant amount of feedback received after a public hearings process into the tariff review held on May 5 and May 6.

Nersa said that 200 written comments were submitted and over 40 presentations were given during the process.

The regulator released the revised tariff proposal in March, to the surprise of industry players.

Most companies with renewable energy interests were not in favour of the revised tariffs as they were, in some cases, particularly solar power, significantly lower than the original tariffs.

Many projects in advanced stages were relying on the original tariffs for financial closure, and said that the revised tariffs would render their projects unbankable.