3rd Edition: The Implementation Perspective
The South African-German Energy Programme (SAGEN) is running a series of articles featuring accomplished women in the embedded generation (EG) space, a traditionally male dominated industry to celebrate Women’s Month. We begin the series this week with a focus on municipal utilities, as one of the key changemakers in the space.
Tanaka Shumba-Mukudu from Sustainable Energy Africa (SEA), the lead consortium partner implementing the Embedded Generation Support Programme, shared her career journey, providing insights into EG trends and the impactful work they are leading.
For more information on the EG Support Programme, please contact Ms Sayuri Chetty, Senior Technical Advisor for Embedded Generation and Urban Transitions or visit our open-access, one-stop resource portal for all things embedded generation: https://www.sseg.org.za/.
Please give us a brief description of what your daily job entails or a summary of your tasks.
It’s always difficult to describe a typical day at SEA, as each day can vary significantly. My day could include training utilities and regulators on various aspects of Embedded Generation, creating informative videos on Embedded Generation, conducting research and analysis on various factors that influence energy transitions, engaging in working groups or steering committees that contribute to shaping national energy policies, as well as managing projects (the EG Support Programme being one of them), including budgets, deliverables and more!
What attracted you to the energy/EG space, or tell us about your career journey that led you to this point?
By the end of my Masters degree, I realized that a traditional Chemical Engineering role (such as in manufacturing or mining) likely wouldn’t provide the fulfilment I sought. I felt a strong desire to steer my career in a direction where I could have a direct and positive impact on people’s lives. So, a year after graduating, I enrolled in a Postgraduate Diploma in Sustainable Development – a programme that deepened my understanding of renewable energy and its potential to benefit society. During that year, I also came across Sustainable Energy Africa and became familiar with the important work the organization is doing in the energy transition space. After exploring a few different paths, I eventually secured a role at SEA, with one of my first positions being part of the team responsible for implementing the EG Support Programme and providing support to municipalities.
What are some of the key trends in the EG space that you’re noticing?
The installation of Embedded Generation systems is rapidly growing, not only in South Africa but across the African continent. This growth is driven by various factors, including the desire to reduce electricity costs and enhance energy security. A significant shift in South Africa’s energy sector has been the changing attitudes of stakeholders toward the registration of these EG systems. While many municipalities were initially hesitant to integrate EG into their networks, it has become increasingly clear that they can’t prevent it. As a result, many municipalities are now working to establish proper processes. Additionally, there appears to be a growing interest among EG customers to have their systems registered and become more compliant.
Even though EG is quite the disrupter to the traditional electricity system, how important do you think the EG sector is for promoting a cleaner, safer and more sustainable environment for all South Africans?
EG plays a crucial role in advancing the sector, especially given South Africa’s significant energy deficit and the limited funds available to address it. Through EG, the private sector can help bridge this gap. With a grid that is mainly powered by coal, renewable energy from EG offers South Africa the opportunity to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, ultimately improving the environment. Looking ahead, it would be ideal if energy from EG systems could be utilized to provide reliable electricity to low-income communities.
Can you describe the essence of the EG Support Programme from your perspective?
The EG Support Programme was established to assist municipalities in safely integrating EG into their grids. The programme focuses on identifying and resolving bottlenecks, providing guidance and capacity building, creating suitable tools to tackle EG challenges, and facilitating discussions and knowledge-sharing among relevant stakeholders within the municipal EG network.
You’ve been doing an amazing job managing this dynamic programme from SEA’s side. What has your experience been like in this role?
Thank you! This role has been incredibly fulfilling, mainly because we’ve seen the tangible results of our efforts. We’ve gone from municipalities being completely reluctant to adopt EG to now having established processes in place and actively processing EG applications, either manually or through the SSEG Online Application Platform. From a capacity-building perspective, it’s been rewarding to witness the growth in knowledge developed by the Programme.
How does a programmatic approach work for rendering this kind of institutional, human and operational capacity building support to municipalities compared to an ad-hoc approach?
A key factor in the success of this support has been the programmatic approach. Real change takes time, and this approach has enabled South African municipalities to enhance their Embedded Generation knowledge and drive meaningful progress. It has also fostered the development of a strong EG network among municipalities, allowing them to exchange experiences and share knowledge.
What have been some of the challenges and benefits implementing a programme of this nature?
Change within a municipality often demands sustained effort over time. One of the key challenges in implementation has been retaining personnel for the long term. In many cases, trained staff would leave, and the knowledge they acquired would not be transferred to others, leading to the need for constant retraining.
And then personally, given my background in Chemical Engineering, understanding electricity grids has been a steep learning curve, and truthfully, the learning process is ongoing. However, it’s been incredibly rewarding to be part of a team that is always willing to go the extra mile to ensure we’re all aligned and on the same page.
With 77 municipalities with official Council approved processes in place as of December 2024, the programme can be considered a success. Can you share a success story of one municipality that particularly resonates with you?
One of the most remarkable things to witness over the past 7 years has been the significant growth in municipal officials’ technical capacity related to EG. One of my favourite stories is about a young female official from a small town in the Western Cape. When we visited her municipality in 2019, she and her colleagues had limited knowledge of solar PV, let alone how to integrate it into their municipal network. Fast forward a few years, and that same official is now asking complex technical questions during our trainings, attending advanced network impact courses, and presenting on EG topics at conferences. This illustrates the profound impact the Programme has had, not just on South Africa’s EG network, but on the individuals who support it.
What are some of the common challenges municipalities face when it comes to EG, and how does the EG Support Programme aim to tackle that?
Some of the common challenges municipalities face with EG include non-compliant customers and illegal installations; a lack of buy-in from senior municipal personnel; the limited capacity to process EG applications ; a high personnel turnover within municipalities; technical impacts to the municipality’s network; insufficient data and information to quantify and locate the EG systems connected to the municipality’s network ; as well as difficulties in implementing EG tariffs, often due to billing system limitations or institutional challenges. The EG Support Programme continuously works to address these challenges within municipalities, primarily through ongoing capacity-building initiatives and engagements with senior municipal personnel. The Programme also seeks to leverage technology, such as the online application platform, to streamline application processing, facilitate EG registration, and enhance record-keeping.
What is your call to action for municipalities when it comes to putting together a comprehensive, fair and transparent process for EG customers?
There’s limited value in developing the best application processes for Embedded Generation if your customers aren’t aware that these processes exist. While communication with customers can be challenging, establishing an efficient, transparent, two-way communication channel will help address many of the challenges municipalities face. Many customers are eager to comply with EG registration processes – they just need clear guidance on the required information.
Lastly, what advice would you give young women who want to pursue a career in the EG or decentralized renewable energy space?
Like many technical fields, the Embedded Generation sector is predominantly male dominated, which can be intimidating for many young women. However, the South African Municipal EG space does feature strong female voices that are helping to drive the EG transition – whether within municipalities, the private sector, or as technical experts and trainers. These voices have played a crucial role in paving the way for young women interested in this sector. My key advice for young women would be:
- Your voice matters, so don’t hesitate to speak up.
- Your questions are valuable; chances are, others have the same ones.
- Your ideas matter; don’t be afraid to share them. We always need new ways of thinking.
- You won’t always be offered a seat at the table, so sometimes you have to claim your place there.
End of interview.
