Electricity Regulation Act, 2006 (Act No. 4 of 2006) Notices Integrated Resource Plan 2019 Glossary

 

"Capacity factor"

refers to the expected output of the plant over a specific time period as a ratio of the output if the plant operated at full-rated capacity for the same time period.

 

"Collector Station"

refers to the substation that connects various renewable energy generating plants and or substations together in order to connect these plants to the Transmission network.

 

"Cost of unserved energy (COUE)"

refers to the opportunity cost to electricity consumers (and the economy) from electricity supply interruptions.

 

"Demand side"

refers to the demand for, or consumption of, electricity.

 

"Demand side management (DSM)"

refers to interventions to reduce energy consumption.

 

"Discount rate"

refers to the factor used in present value calculations that indicates the time value of money, thereby equating current and future costs.

 

"Distributed generation"

refers to small-scale technologies to produce electricity close to the end users of power.

 

"Energy efficiency"

refers to the effective use of energy to produce a given output (in a production environment) or service (from a consumer point of view), i.e. a more energy-efficient technology is one that produces the same service or output with less energy input.

 

"Fixed costs"

refer to costs not directly relevant to the production of the generation plant.

 

"Forced outage rate (FOR)"

refers to the percentage of scheduled generating time a unit is unable to generate because of unplanned outages resulting from mechanical, electrical or other failure.

 

"Gross Domestic Product (GDP)"

refers to the total value added from all economic activity in the country, i.e. total value of goods and services produced.

 

"Integrated Energy Plan"

refers to the over-arching, co-ordinated energy plan combining the constraints and capabilities of alternative energy carriers to meet the country’s energy needs.

 

"Integrated Resource Plan (IRP)"

refers to the co-ordinated schedule for generation expansion and demand-side intervention programmes, taking into consideration multiple criteria to meet electricity demand.

 

"Lead time"

refers to a time period taken to construct an asset from scratch to production of first unit of energy.

 

"Learning rates"

refer to the fractional reduction in cost for each doubling of cumulative production or capacity of a specific technology.

 

"Levelised cost of energy"

refers to the discounted total cost of a technology option or project over its economic life, divided by the total discounted output from the technology option or project over that same period, i.e. the levelised cost of energy provides an indication of the discounted average cost relating to a technology option or project.

 

"Non-technical losses"

refer to losses due to electricity theft and other problems that are not related to grid technicalities.

 

"Operating and maintenance (O&M) costs"

refer to all non-fuel costs such as direct and indirect costs of labour and supervisory personnel, consumable supplies and equipment and outside support services. These costs are made up of two components, i.e. fixed costs and variable costs.

 

"Overnight capital cost"

refers to capital cost (expressed in R/MW) of a construction project if no interest was incurred during construction, assuming instantaneous construction.

 

"Peaking plant"

refers to energy plants or power stations that have very low capacity factors, i.e. generally produce energy for limited periods, specifically during peak-demand periods, with storage that supports energy on demand.

 

"Present value"

refers to the present worth of a stream of expenses appropriately discounted by the discount rate.

 

"Reference Case (Base Case)"

refers to a starting point intended to enable, by means of standardization, meaningful comparisons of scenario analysis results based on sets of assumptions and sets of future circumstances.

 

"Reserve margin"

refers to the excess capacity available to serve load during the annual peak.

 

"Scenario"

refers to a particular set of assumptions and set of future circumstances providing a mechanism to observe outcomes from these circumstances.

 

"Sent-out capacity"

corresponds to electricity output measured at the generating unit outlet terminal having taken out the power consumed by the unit auxiliaries and losses in transformers considered integral parts of the unit.

 

"Sensitivity"

refers to the rate of change in the model output relative to a change in inputs, with sensitivity analysis considering the impact of changes in key assumptions on the model outputs.

 

"Strategy"

is used synonymously with policy, referring to decisions that, if implemented, assume that specific objectives will be achieved.

 

"Supply side"

refers to the production, generation or supply of electricity.

 

"Test case"

is a specification of the inputs, execution conditions, testing procedure, and expected results that define a single test to be executed to achieve a particular testing objective.

 

"Variable costs"

refer to costs incurred as a result of the production of the generation plant.