4th Edition: The International Development Cooperation 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.
Sayuri Chetty from GIZ, from GIZ shared her inspiring career journey, reflecting on the various milestones that shaped her path in the energy sector. She provides valuable insights into EG trends, highlighting both the challenges and opportunities within the South African context. Her reflections also showcased the impactful work GIZ is leading to support a just and inclusive energy transition, particularly through strategic partnerships, policy support, and capacity development.
What is the current status quo in the national municipal space when it comes to EG? What are some of the key trends in the EG sector that you’re noticing?
EG is likely to continue in an upwards trajectory, therefore it will continue driving the local energy transition, shaping the evolving roles of electricity distributors, as well as presenting opportunities and challenges for network operators. Even though the intensity of load shedding has reduced, which was an initial driver for EG, for residential customers who can afford it and for commercial customers who want to reduce their reliance on the grid or become climate conscious, it just makes financial sense. There is also an increase in rent to own/leasing and subscription options making it more accessible and attractive for residential customers that may not have the upfront capital require to install solar. Another positive trend is an increase in the number of registered installations – as of December 2024, there were more than 19 000 installations that were registered across the country.
Please give us a brief description of what your daily job entails or a summary of your tasks.
I am responsible for coordinating the activities under the Embedded Generation (EG) component at SAGEN, managing a number of projects and overseeing the delivery and quality of project outputs. One such project is the Embedded Generation Support Programme. Some days it might also entail technical ad-hoc advice to our partners, the conception of new project ideas in collaboration with our partners in response to their support needs, contract management, as well as supporting knowledge management, monitoring and evaluating our project impacts, and communicating these impacts.
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/.
What attracted you to the energy/EG space, or tell us about your career journey that led you to this point?
I’ve always had an interest in careers that would allow me to do meaningful work. I remember in matric (grade 12), torn between wanting to study Medicine and Environmental Sciences – save people or the planet was the question for me. I was fortunate enough to receive a bursary from Eskom to study Environmental Sciences, so I took it as a sign from the Universe and made the decision to study that, where my interest in climate protection, social development and contributing to doing meaningful work was cemented. Following my Honours graduation, I intentionally explored opportunities that was aligned to that interest and have been grateful to work on renewable energy integration and climate mitigation topics on the continent since.
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?
With such a carbon intensive economy such as South Africa’s, EG plays a crucial role in the transition of our energy system to more cleaner sources for a liveable planet, for the resilience of our power system, and for the creation of green jobs and supporting the local economy.
The EG sector is changing the face of the energy transition, adding cleaner energy to the mix, one EG system at a time and allowing everyone the agency to choose where their electricity supply comes from. With the establishment of the South African Wholesale Energy Market, it will also be an option for EG customers to trade on the market eventually, so interesting developments ahead!
Can you describe the essence of the EG Support Programme from your perspective?
The Embedded Generation Support Programme is a holistic capacity building programme for municipal utilities to prepare them for the safe integration of embedded generation into their networks. It comprises of several building blocks including 1) comprehensive, practical training on EG topics, 2) a technical help desk and peer exchange platform to support with ad-hoc technical, legal and financial queries on EG, 3) a resource portal with tools, templates, studies, information required on EG, and 4) access to an online application portal to streamline the application process for applications less than 1MW.
Initially in 2017, in response to the rise in EG, we developed training for municipal utilities but quickly realised that it was not enough to support municipalities with practical implementation, and hence the EG Support Programme (then called the SSEG Support Programme) was born! It’s been really wonderful to see how the programme has evolved from inception to now, adapting every so often to respond to changes in the regulatory environment, and also how it has inspired similar formats in other projects in Africa.
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?
For a lot of municipalities, especially in the beginning, it may not be common to know where to start and what documents to have in place. The rapid changes in legislation, and interpretations thereof, can also be quite challenging to navigate. Another key one is the compliance with registration and convincing customers with EG systems to register.
The EG Support Programme works with municipalities to support them with a start-to-end process. There are several resources, templates and tools available so that adequate guidance is provided and municipalities don’t have to start from scratch to develop an EG policy or by-law for example. The peer exchange network is also quite helpful where more experienced municipalities are able to share their advice, best practices and lessons learnt.
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 conventional approach?
A programmatic approach allows for a more holistic support offering, compared to an ad-hoc approach, and includes the complete suite of support to build the variety of capacities that are required for municipal officials to manage EG on their networks.
A programmatic approach is also a lot more sustainable and impactful, since support can be provided consistently over a longer period of time. The EG Support Programme has been going on for eight years, evolving as the sector has, as new regulations emerged and the penetration of EG increased. It’s actually rare in the development corporation world to see the continuation of a programme/activity for this long, but it shows the commitment of GIZ to supporting real, systemic change which takes time and builds upon progress made in one year to the next, and accounts for any volatilities or regression due to personnel changes, political changes, etc.
With 77 municipalities with official Council approved processes in place as of Dec 2024, would you consider this programme a success?
Most certainly! A lot goes into establishing an application process, there are about 11 components that a municipality needs to undertake according to the SALGA-AMEU resource pack to create a comprehensive EG application framework for customers, and it can take a while to go through the Council process, so it is very encouraging to be at 77. There are also several more municipalities who have embarked on getting their Council approvals this year.
What is your call to action for municipalities when it comes to putting together a comprehensive, fair and transparent process for EG customers?
Do take the time to communicate your EG application processes and the importance for having one and adhering to it. I think a lot of the negative feedback or hesitation from customers comes from the fact that most people do not understand the reasons for the stipulated requirements. Having clear, easy-to-understand processes allow for customer transparency, fair tariff structures and will enhance compliance. The media also doesn’t help in this regard – I recall seeing articles with headlines that say things like: “More punishment for customers with solar”, and that’s simply not true or the intention of utilities. It is worthwhile to not only work with your communications department, but also with media. I also think it’s important to also work with resellers on this, as it’s a bit of a grey space currently with not a lot known on how best to deal with bulk customers such as complexes where the Body Corporate is a registered reseller and has a mix of EG and non-EG customers.
Lastly, what advice would you give young women who want to be in the EG/energy space?
I find the EG sector extremely dynamic and interesting, so if you would like a career that includes an element of climate consciousness, environmental protection, innovation and social development, then EG is definitely the sector for you.
Also, don’t be afraid to fail, make mistakes or ask the ‘wrong’ questions – it’s how you learn. As a someone not in the Engineering field, I often feel out of my depth with the more technical aspects of EG, but I’ve found the EG community to be quite supportive and non-judgemental, as we’re all learning together as the sector develops. Besides, it’s also okay to not know everything…
End of interview.
