The technology assessment of demand side bidding within the South African context

South Africa is currently in the grips of a severe power supply capacity constraint; January 2007 has already seen blackouts throughout the country, the worst is still expected in the months to come. As a measure of immediate remedy Eskom is turning to Demand Side Bidding (DSB); a methodology whereby the demand side has an opportunity to sell back flexible load to the supply side. Through this paper an assessment of DSB is carried out, with the aim of evaluating and gauging the current and potential future standing of DSB as a technology product within the South African context. The assessment is carried out using the technology balance sheet, the technology road map and the scenarios approach. The results of the assessment show that DSB is not a sustainable solution to the current power supply capacity constraint Eskom is facing.