Image Source: Mining Review Africa
Local – The government will pursue private investment to boost South Africa’s power transmission capacity, a move expected to ease the country’s long-standing energy constraints.
Minister of Electricity and Energy, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, announced on Tuesday during a media briefing in Pretoria, where he introduced the new Independent Transmission Programme (ITP).
The initiative will allow private sector players to help fund and construct much-needed transmission infrastructure.
Ramokgopa revealed that the pilot phase of the ITP would see 1,164 km of new transmission lines built to support renewable energy projects.
“Our renewable energy assets are not fully exploited as a result of the constraints on the transmission side,” he said. “The Eskom balance sheet and the sovereign balance sheet is not sufficient to carry the kind of investments that are required in this space.”
He explained that the Transmission Development Plan outlines the need for 14,000 km of new transmission lines, especially to unlock solar and wind potential in the Cape provinces. But the state alone cannot foot the estimated R440 billion bill.
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Private Sector to Play a Bigger Role in Energy Infrastructure
A ministerial determination has already been issued, paving the way for private-sector participation. “Our view is that there’s a need for us to be able to ensure that we are able to accelerate and support transmission infrastructure development,” Ramokgopa said.
“We need this 14 000km of new lines to be able to unlock the capacity, especially in the cape provinces… but we have exhausted all of the transmission that allows us to evacuate the electrons so that the economy can benefit from those assets.”
He added that the Ministry will lead the procurement, with the National Transmission Company of South Africa (NTCSA) as the buyer. The process will be competitive and transparent.
“The requirement for the ITP pilot has to be consistent with the transmission development plan, and it must also support the IRP [Integrated Resource Plan]. It must [also] be commercially viable,” he said.
The ITP is expected to unlock 3 222MW of new energy—around 63% of the total capacity of Medupi and Kusile power stations.
“For the South African economy to grow, we need to unshackle the issues of the structural constraints, which is electricity… Electricity gives us a pristine opportunity to transform the economy [and] grow the economy,” Ramokgopa said.
