Imports Of Solar Panels & Inverters Rise In South Africa As Power Crisis Grows

South Africa is going through its worst ever duration of electrical power rationing. The record levels of load-shedding in 2022 led to houses and services rushing to get solar and battery storage services to cushion themselves from the constant power interruptions. In 2022, there were 3,773 hours of load-shedding. This was the most extensive year of load-shedding in South Africa’s history. Load-shedding in 2022 was mainly in Phase 4. This was likewise the very first year that Phase 2 has actually not been the dominant phase of load-shedding carried out by Eskom because it started. Eskom’s load-shedding program is structured in phases, where Eskom sheds a specific quantum of load from the grid to support the grid. So, depending upon the seriousness of the crisis, load-shedding is carried out in phases from Phase 1 to Phase 8, where Phase 1 sheds 1,000 MW of load from the grid and in a Phase 8 circumstance, Eskom gets 8,000 MW of load from the grid. Load-shedding is carried out over 2-hour or 4-hour blocks on a rotational basis depending upon the seriousness of the crises. Phase 8, nevertheless, indicates most customers will experience a blackout for about 12 hours.

The results of load-shedding on houses and services have actually been ruthless, and the South African Reserve Bank states that throughout the greater phases of load-shedding, where customers can experience 12 hours of load-shedding each day, South Africa loses as much as R900 million ($ 50 million) each day

2 charts from Johannesburg-based Gaylor Montmasson-Clair, a Senior Economic Expert at Trade, Industrial Policy Methods (POINTERS), just recently showcased simply just how much imports of photovoltaic panels and inverters have actually risen in current months in South Africa.

Let’s have a look at photovoltaic panel imports initially. Imports of photovoltaic panels struck an all-time high in the very first quarter of this year. R3.6 billion ($ 200 million) worth of photovoltaic panels were imported into South Africa in Q1 2023. The analysis from Gaylor reveals that this is 3 times as much as the previous quarter. In the entire of 2022, R5.6 billion ($ 354 million) worth of photovoltaic panels were imported into South Africa. This figure will more than likely be exceeded in Q2 for this year. Recalling over the previous years, there were likewise some peaks in 2013, 2015, and 2019, and another rise in 2022. The peaks in 2013, 2015, and 2019 represent South Africa’s utility-scale solar competitive bidding rounds under the REIPPPP tasks. In 2021/2022, there were some rounds also, however there was likewise a strong contribution from houses and services purchasing photovoltaic panels for self generation due to increased load-shedding on top of the energy scale tasks. South Africa now has near 2,500 MW of utility-scale solar in operation from the previous competitive bidding rounds.

Image from Gaylor Montmasson-Clair

All those photovoltaic panels require inverters, so let’s have a look at inverter imports. Inverter imports rose to R10.5 billion ($ 650 million) in 2022, up from about $350 million in 2021.

Image from Gaylor Montmasson-Clair

Naturally, as the electrical power rationing program in South Africa is still continuous, there has actually likewise been a rise in imports of lithium-ion cells and batteries as houses and services hurry to get power backup services and minimize the really pricey fuel and upkeep expenses related to backup diesel generators. That is close to $ 700 million invested in importing lithium-ion cells and batteries in 2022, which is over R12 billion South African Rand

Image from Gaylor Montmasson-Clair

Imports of photovoltaic panels, inverters, and lithium-ion batteries are set to rise once again as more services include solar and storage to their energy mix. In the very first 3 months of this year, over 2,400 MW of tasks have actually been signed up by personal companies looking for to produce their own power to enhance what they are presently obtaining from the grid These tasks will now be at different phases of advancement, and for that reason more photovoltaic panels, inverters, and where appropriate, lithium-ion batteries, will be brought into the nation to finish these tasks. This is maybe a great chance to have actually more in your area produced items in these sectors as volumes grow, validating possible financial investments in these locations.