For years, South Africans have been trailblazers when it comes to the business world. South Africans are renowned for their work ethic and innovativeness and have set benchmarks globally.
Elon Musk made international headlines for his innovative approach to establishing Tesla as a global brand. While the science behind Tesla may not have been the brainchild of Musk, he was the driving force behind a movement that could positively impact the world’s third most populated country.
Musk’s steadfast approach to believing in a cause and his open-minded approach to innovation are what South Africa needs when approaching the topic of turning around our struggling State Owned Entities.
A recent News24 opinion piece points out that electric vehicles can add significant benefits to Eskom.
Current concerns
The News24 article points out that there’s a widespread belief that South Africa isn’t well suited to electric vehicles (EV).
The argument is threefold. First, it’ll be impossible to charge one’s car amidst all the load shedding. Second, the electrification of transport will only increase the strain on the national power grid and exacerbate rolling blackouts. And third, South Africa’s electricity supply is so coal-intensive that EVs are more damaging to the environment than petrol- or diesel-powered cars.
The article adds that these fears are misguided.
Loadshedding doesn’t matter much to electric vehicles
The article points out that, on the first point, EVs are typically plugged in at home overnight – just like your phone. So, even if you’re entirely reliant on Eskom and the power goes off for a few hours, your car will still have plenty of time to charge up while you sleep.
Image By: John Cameron via Unsplash
Surveys show that the vast majority of vehicle owners in South Africa drive less than 50km a day, which means even an entry-level EV with a limited range could go several days on one charge.
In other words, for the average car user, load shedding doesn’t matter much.
The article adds that long-distance road trips will become problematic. If you’re on a long drive between Joburg and Cape Town, you’d want to know that the charging stations along the way are working.
This is the piece of the puzzle that the likes of Zero Carbon Charge, with its off-grid network of solar-powered charging facilities, are working to solve. In a similar vein, Cape Town’s Golden Arrow bus service has installed large-scale solar systems at its depots in preparation for its move to an all-electric fleet.
Restoring energy security
Regarding the second point, the News24 article points out that. The electrification of cars and buses could in fact help, rather than hinder, Eskom’s efforts to restore energy security.
In other markets, system operators increasingly see EVs as handy assets that can help them maintain a steady balance between supply and demand.
In the past, gas-fired power plants were the kings of flexibility, as they can easily ramp up their output during evening peak periods when demand surges.
The article adds that they are no longer the only horse in town. In some markets, grid operators are turning to EVs to help them smooth the demand curve and boost supply when more electrons are needed.
On the one hand, EVs with vehicle-to-the-grid capabilities can act as mini gas plants that feed power back into the grid during peak periods – with attractive financial incentives for their owners.
The article points out that, on the other hand, when electricity supply is higher than demand – typically during the middle of the day when lots of solar is online – system operators and retailers can incentivise EV charging to boost demand and ensure all that solar doesn’t go to waste.
With this in mind, the UK’s electricity system operator (ESO) recently announced that it would incorporate up to 300MW of aggregated assets — including EV chargers — into its flexibility toolkit.
“Opening up to flexible assets of this kind is vital in achieving our ambition of 100% zero-carbon operation of the electricity network by 2035 and delivering the clean, green energy system of the future,” the operator said in a statement.
The News24 article points out that, in time, the ESO predicts, smart electric vehicle charging could contribute to a 60% reduction in peak electricity demand. Retailers are also capitalising on this opportunity. Octopus Energy recently launched the UK’s first mass-market vehicle-to-grid tariff, which allows drivers to charge their cars for free when electricity demand is low.
The overall idea is that EVs will automatically charge themselves during off-peak times when supply is plentiful and electrons cost almost nothing, and then export back into the grid when demand (and prices) is running high. To make this work in South Africa, however, we’d need to modernise our billing systems and adopt time-of-use tariffs.
Above all else, Eskom would benefit by reducing its reliance on ultra-costly diesel-powered peaker plants. At last count, it’s spending roughly R3 billion a month on fuel for those facilities.
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Electric vehicles are not as dirty as many think
Finally, the article points out that the extreme carbon intensity of South Africa’s national grid does indeed mean electric vehicles are pretty much just as dirty as internal combustion engine vehicles.
But that’s changing.
While Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe wants to deepen the country’s reliance on fossil fuels for electricity, the free market is ignoring him, and a clean energy boom is underway. Mining companies and manufacturers are racing to procure wind and solar power as they seek to decarbonise their operations, mitigate against load shedding, and cut their energy expenses. The new capacity they’re bringing on will be mostly grid connected, and will gradually transform South Africa’s electricity sector – whether Mantashe likes it or not.
The article adds that all things considered, South Africa can benefit from a shift to EVs – if it does so intelligently.
A good first step would be to adjust our import tariff regime since, for the time being, EVs are subjected to much higher taxes than petrol- and diesel-powered cars.
Looking to the future
The diversification of the South African economy has been a narrative that Turnaround Talk and other media outlets have been building for a considerable amount of time.
It is important to note that the diversification of the South African economy includes the diversification of the drivers of the South African economy. As a country, we need to decrease our dependence on Eskom. Whether this is through the diversification of the electric grid or the introduction of technologies that will reduce electrical consumption is a matter of conjecture. What matters is that energy is focused in the right direction, and that is towards enabling economic growth.
