Last December, Lance Dickerson, MD of REVOV, chatted to Michael Avery from HOT 102.7 FM on Eskom’s proposed electricity price increase of 20.5% for the new fiscal year, which commences on April 1, 2022.
During 2021, South Africa’s availability of energy decreased from 80% to 55%. Loadshedding is set to continue, and likely to get worse throughout 2022, as Eskom’s plants continue to age. With the planned electricity price increase of 20.5%, there is no better time to go off-grid.
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) approved a 15.6% increase in 2021. The potential price increase of 20.5% this year could lead to South Africans paying a sizable portion of their salaries towards electricity bills. Currently, South Africans are eligible to receive 40 units for R100, the planned increase will reduce the number of units to around 30 units for every R100 of electricity purchased.
Previously, older technologies such as lead acid batteries proved to be most cost effective, in the quest to get off the grid, however, Lithium-Ion technology has proved to be more efficient and affordable in recent times and has a return of investment of 3 years, allowing citizens to invest in their systems rather than relying on the grid for electricity.
An average 3-bedroom household needs a 10kWh backup, which will allow the household to run the critical load through an average Stage 4 bout of loadshedding, as long as the system has been set up correctly, by splitting electricity loads from essential and non-essential loads. To learn more about how to calculate how much battery backup you may need click here.
Investing in renewable power will allow South Africans to have access to electricity and become less dependant on the grid for power.
Listen to the HOT 102.7FM recording below:
HOT BUSINESS, 15 Dec Sustainability - Why battery storage is the crucial link to getting off grid
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