Check whether your site can participate in wheeling
Off-takers are usually large power users: industrial sites, commercial property, mines, data centres and multi-site businesses. Here is how to work out whether wheeling stacks up for you.
Five steps to a decision
- 1
Understand your load profile
Wheeling works best when you understand your half-hourly or time-of-use consumption profile, maximum demand, connection voltage, current tariff and site electricity account structure.
- 2
Check eligibility
Confirm whether your account is Eskom-supplied or municipality-supplied. Check whether your municipality or distributor has an active wheeling framework, and whether your tariff, voltage level and metering are eligible.
- 3
Identify a generator or trader
Negotiate with an IPP, renewable energy developer or licensed trader. The commercial price is normally agreed in a PPA, not set by the municipality, Eskom or NERSA.
- 4
Model the business case
Compare the PPA price, wheeling charges, network charges, losses, deficit energy costs, administration fees and expected escalation against your current electricity tariff.
- 5
Sign agreements and implement metering
You will normally sign a supply agreement amendment or wheeling addendum with the relevant network service provider, and ensure compliant metering is in place.
The price is set between the parties
The energy price is typically agreed commercially between the generator, trader and buyer through a PPA. The City of Cape Town's wheeling documentation similarly notes that the energy price is set between the parties under a bilateral PPA, rather than by the City, Eskom or NERSA. The network service provider applies approved network, wheeling and administration charges on top of that commercial price.
Find out whether your site is ready to wheel
The business case lives in the detail: your load profile, eligibility, the PPA and the network charges. Work through a structured readiness check, or get help modelling the data and reconciliation side.