Deputy President David Mabuza says government has reached an agreement with Maputo that will see South Africa getting a supply of gas from Mozambique.

The Deputy President said this when he responded to oral questions at a sitting of the National Assembly on Thursday.

“Discussions between our Minister here of Mineral Resources [and Energy] and Mozambique are quite advanced in terms of gas that we should transport from Mozambique to the country.

“I can safely say that we have reached an agreement,” he said on Thursday.

Responding to questions from Members of Parliament (MPs), the Deputy President said alternative energy generation measures are being explored and implemented to augment electricity supply and improve the stability of the grid.

Deputy President Mabuza also said the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has amended the Electricity Regulations of New Generation Capacity. The department has also put together processes to be followed to ensure requests by municipalities for own generation are speedily attended to.

He told MPs that currently, 292 small-scale generators have registered with the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) and have generation capacity of 187MW.

“The Independent Power Producers Office is processing offers by independent power producers for approval by Eskom and National Treasury.”

He said the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy has issued determinations on the required new generation capacity, in concurrence with the NERSA.

“The Determinations made, resulted in the procurement of more than 7 309 MW from renewable and non-renewable energy.

“Most of these power plants are already in operation, with less than 400MW still under construction,” he said.

Source: South African Government News Agency