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Cape Town - Energy expert Ted Blom believes distributed generation will slice electricity costs by up to 90% for the average household.
Wikipeadia defines distributed generation as "electrical generation and storage performed by a variety of small, grid-connected devices referred to as distributed energy resources".
“South Africa and the world is at the precipice of revolutionary developments in energy generation and distribution, and the next 5 to 10 years will render such dramatic changes that today's energy supply chain will not be recognisable, especially with the advent of distributed generation, which in many instances will kill off centralised ‘bulk’ generation and distribution," said Blom.
"I believe this move will slice electricity costs by up to 90% for the average household, and be a boom industry for participants in the energy revolution, with concomitant radical improvements in standards of living.”
Last year Blom testified before Parliament’s inquiry into Eskom’s governance. In his view, such prosecution and clean-ups are long overdue, as Parliament is powerless to take punitive action against wrongdoers.
Nuclear
As for the pending decision on nuclear, Blom is "convinced" that it will be pushed through the moment South African citizens take their "eye off the ball".
"President Jacob Zuma's government has already confirmed that it is beholden to the Russian deal, and their delivery of those contracts to Russia is allegedly behind. So, expect renewed vigour from Eskom and the Department of Energy to bulldoze these through,” he cautioned.
Blom is one of the speakers at the upcoming African Utility Week taking place in Cape Town in from 15 to17 May. It is expected to attract over 7 000 decision makers from more than 80 countries to discuss the challenges, solutions and successes in the power, energy and water sectors in Africa.
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