On 24 February 2012, the Department of Energy ("the
Department") published the Regulations on the Mandatory
Provision of Energy Data ("the Regulations"), under
section 19(1) of the National Energy Act, 34 of 2008 ("the
Act").
The objectives of the Regulations are to enable the Department to
collect, collate and publish energy data and information in an
effective and efficient manner, and provide for the type, manner
and form of energy data and information that must be provided by
any data provider.
Regulation 4 of the Regulations provides for the classification of
data providers into six categories. Of particular interest to
mining companies are categories A and F. Category A refers to
entities which hold an exploration right issued in terms of section
80 of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002
("MPRDA"), (relating to oil and gas), a mining right (for
minerals) issued in terms of section 23 of the MPRDA or a mining
permit issued in terms of section 27 of the MPRDA, to carry out
activities related to the exploration or mining of so-called
'primary energy commodities'. While term "primary
energy commodities" is defined in the Regulations to mean
"energy commodities that are either extracted or captured
directly from natural resources", no definition is provided
for 'energy commodities'. The Act does however, define
"energy resource" to mean "non-value added material
or mineral that can be used to produce energy or be converted to an
energy carrier". Accordingly, on the assumption that the term
'energy commodity' would be afforded a similar definition
as that given to 'energy resource', Category A would apply,
for example, to an entity holding a mining right for coal, or an
exploration or production right for oil or gas.
Category F refers to end users of energy, and includes entities
which carry out economic activities accordingly to the Stand
Industrial Classification, which includes mining and quarrying, or
dwelling units. Category F accordingly makes the Regulations
applicable to, inter alia, every mine irrespective of the nature of
the mineral that is being mined. The Regulations provide also that
notwithstanding the classifications, the Department may identify
additional data sources and may request data from such
sources.
The Regulations provide that the Department may, by written request
in the form prescribed by the Regulations, request any data
provider to submit or make available to the Department the data and
information listed in the table below and any other data related to
energy that the Department may request. In addition, the
Regulations also provided that where relevant, a data provider must
also make available to the Department any data and information
describing the quantity and nature of greenhouse gases and related
gaseous particles emitted as a result of the data provider's
economic activities and processes and data and information
describing the toxic material and other substances released as a
consequence of the economic activities and processes of the data
provider and which may contaminate air, soil and water. It is not
clear from the Regulations when the submission of this additional
information would be relevant.
A failure by a data provider to submit any data requested in terms
of the Regulations is deemed to be an offence in contravention of
the Act which, upon conviction would render a person liable to a
fine not exceeding five million rand, imprisonment for a period not
exceeding five years, both such fine and such imprisonment.
The Regulations also allow for the publication of data submitted by
data providers in the public domain in instances where such data is
at a very low level of disaggregation, and provided such data does
not contravene and preceding legislation.
The Regulations came into operation on 1 March 2012.
Classes of data providers |
Generic description of data to be provided |
Category A - entities that hold exploration or mining rights, or mining permits (relating to primary energy commodities) |
Data regarding seismic, drilling, logging, discoveries, concessions, leases, prospecting, exploration, permits, production activities, efficiency and reserves of energy minerals |
Category B - entities that hold production rights (relating to primary energy commodities) |
(i) Data regarding import, export, quality, sources, prices, volumes, capacity, cost, efficiency, technology and reserves of all primary energy commodities excluding renewable energy sources; and (ii) data regarding the capacity, costs, imports, efficiency and technologies of renewable energy sources. |
Category C - entities that carry out electricity generation, petroleum production or gas liquefaction or regasification |
(i) Data regarding the production capacity, utilisation, availability, total output, efficiency, technology, input costs of energy transformation inputs; and (ii) data regarding import, export, quality, sources, prices, volumes, capacity, cost, efficiency, and technology of secondary energy commodities. |
Category D - entities responsible for the transportation, transmission or distribution of any form of energy. |
Data regarding capacity and utilisation of logistics and infrastructure, transmission, distribution of energy carriers as well as associated costs, optimisation and tariffs. |
Category E - industry associations |
Data related to energy consumption, utilisation, efficiency, cogeneration and end use of energy within an industry represented by an association. |
Category F - end users of energy |
Data regarding volumes, prices, efficiency, type of energy and energy services used within the residential, industrial, mining, commercial, transport, agriculture and other sectors as defined by the SIC. |
Category G - an organ of state, a research institution or an academic institution |
(i) State organ's data, research and plans which are related to energy; and (ii) Energy data collected from other sources. |
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.