Generation Connection Capacity Assessment of the 2012 Transmission Network (GCCA-2012)
In line with South African Government’s commitment
to reduce emission levels by 2025, there is a significant
drive to connect renewable energy (RE) generation to the
Eskom Transmission network (‘transmission network’).
At present RE generation developers do not have a
clear idea of the available capacity for the connection
of generation projects to the transmission network.
To address this issue a study was undertaken to
determine the expected connection capacities for new
generation at the Eskom Main Transmission System
(MTS) substations.
Due to time constraints and the urgency of the impending
REFIT process, the studies were undertaken only for
the areas where the most potential for RE sources are
located. Based on the RE generation applications and
the enquiries received by Eskom Holdings Ltd (‘Eskom’)
the connection capacity study covered the transmission
network in the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and
Northern Cape.
The generation connection capacity at the MTS
substations have been calculated under two conditions
for the 2012 Transmission network, referred to as Level
1 and Level 2 These are defined as follows:
Level 1: Connection is only considered at the LV
busbar of the MTS substation (132kV or 66kV)
with no transmission strengthening.
Level 2: Connection capacity is considered as the total
generation seen by the HV busbar of the MTS
substation (400kV, 275kV or 220kV) with
limited local transmission strengthening to
enable access for new generation.
