The Supreme Court of Appeal in South Africa has dismissed a case that aimed to declare null and void power purchase agreements between wind and solar developers and the state utility Eskom from the fourth renewables procurement round, according to the South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA).
The case, brought by the Coal Transporters Forum (CTF), argued that the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) had not properly approved the section 34 authorisation which was a pre-requisite for the process.
CTF further argued that the renewables programme would impact negatively on Eskom’s financial performance.
SAWEA chief executive Ntombifuthi Ntuli welcomed this final judgement issued by the Supreme Court of Appeal.
She said: “The first judgement was handed by the High Court in March 2019, two years after the first application.
“The CTF was refused leave to appeal in the High Court (June 2019) and have now also lost this petition for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal.
“The courts have each time dismissed the applications, with cost of legal counsel payable by CTF to each of the respondent entities, including Eskom, NERSA, the Minister of Energy and the IPP respondents, all of which joined together in opposing CTF.
“The timeframe to petition the Constitutional Court for leave to appeal, has now passed, which finally closes the door on this case.”