IPFA South Africa: Johannesburg: Is Embedded Generation the Future of Power Supply in Africa?

Embedded generation is the small-scale production of power connected within the electricity distribution network: located close to the place of consumption. For example: a typical solar system of this nature will supply enough power for the daily (sunshine hours) use of a business without feeding excess power back into the grid. At night: should the business require extra power: it can use power from the grid. South African legislation makes no provision for generated electricity to be fed into the national grid outside the current REIPPP projects. With this system: a business owner/community can utilise solar technology without contravening any legislation and put a system in place which: when increased in size: could generate profits should relevant tariffs come into effect in the future.