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Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses Eskom's invitation to large electricity users to bid for 291 MW of solar electricity that it is preparing to build and trade and the questions this raises about fair competition given Eskom's objections to traders.

JSE-listed real estate investment trust (Reit) Growthpoint Properties said it is giving a massive boost to Africa's first open blockchain-enabled REC exchange, Fuel Switch, while unlocking certified clean energy trading for tenants when its e-co2 green energy initiative, goes live in October.

The Reit pointed out that wheeled green energy would be made available for daily business in South Africa from October.

"What we have seen in the industry currently is that sustainability reporting is becoming a very onerous task, [especially on the] listed companies . . . almost to the extent that it is becoming equal to financial reporting," said Growthpoint corporate advisory head Werner van Antwerpen during a media presentation.

"That's why we actually developed this e-co2 initiative . . . to, first of all, . . . wheel green power to those tenants, but also then to certify those . . . so that they can use that to reduce their emissions in their reporting structures," he explained.

Growthpoint's e-co2 will deliver its first green electrons to ten Sandton office buildings in October, with hydropower wheeled over the national grid from the Boston hydroelectric plant, newly developed as part of the Lesotho Highlands Water Scheme in partnership with Serengeti Energy.

The company said in a media release that the e-co2 roll-out puts Growthpoint well ahead in bringing certified renewable energy into daily business.

The company explained that the use of e-co2 wheeled green electricity is cost competitive for Growthpoint tenants and has a zero-carbon footprint, allowing them to save money and advance their sustainability goals.

For e-co2, the company signed a 195 GWh power purchase agreement with Etana Energy in 2023, securing a mix of hydro, wind and solar power.

The company said this energy underpins its pioneering e-co2 solution, which delivers wheeled renewable electricity directly to commercial buildings and their tenants.

"But the real breakthrough lies in how this energy is certified, tracked and monetised for Growthpoint's tenants," the company said in the release.

To deliver this capability as part of a growing suite of high-impact business-enabling tenant benefits, Growthpoint partnered with Fuel Switch.

During the presentation, Fuel Switch CEO Jan-Paul Spangenberg explained that tenants can face issues such as having limited choice regarding electricity, as well as tedious onboarding processes and high fees.

"It's really a difficult market to navigate and know where to go, so we plan to solve that. We are busy solving that," he said.

GREEN ENERGY CERTIFICATION

Fuel Switch's platform certifies the electricity as green using Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain and AI, providing independent third-party verification in an innovative manner.

Once certified, the green energy benefit is recorded on a digital certificate.

Each REC confirms that 1 MWh of renewable energy has been generated and supplied to the national grid.

The RECs are stored on the blockchain as a digital asset. Each is time-stamped and linked to a renewable-energy source.

"Think of it like this: when a solar panel generates electricity, it creates two things - actual power, and a certificate that says, 'this power came from a clean, renewable source'," Growthpoint explained.

The Reit noted that corporates had come under increasing pressure to meet net-zero and environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments, adding that sustainability reporting is increasingly carrying the same weight and scrutiny as financial reporting.

RECs can be redeemed for certified reduction of Scope 2 carbon emissions. Fuel Switch integrates directly with South Africa's national REC registry, zaRECs, as well as the global I-REC standard governed by the I-TRACK Foundation.

Growthpoint expressed that its blockchain platform provided an "immutable record" for each REC from issuance to retirement, which ensured auditability aligned with global ESG standards.

"What's more, with South Africa's...

Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) CEO-designate Tafadzwa Chibanguza says the prevailing uncertainty surrounding South Africa's public procurement rules in relation to local content has emerged as a major obstacle to reigniting industrialisation on the back of the country's large grid roll-out.

In addition, he argues that the recently released request for proposals (RFP) for South Africa's inaugural procurement of independent transmission projects (ITPs) is so heavily geared towards foreign investors that it could leave domestic capacity stranded.

Speaking at a National Business Initiative dialogue on the economic and industrial potential of the Transmission Development Plan (TDP), Chibanguza underlined the potential of the grid roll-out to revitalise manufacturing, especially in the metals and engineering subsector.

"Beyond the immediate benefits of energy sovereignty and cleaner energy supply, the TDP stands as the largest build programme South Africa will undertake in the next decade, creating an unparalleled opportunity to anchor a bold industrialisation agenda."

It could prove especially important for the metals and engineering value chain, owing to the metals-intensity of the suite of products required, which ranged from fabricated steel structures, to cables, transformers and circuit breakers.

It is estimated that the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA), which is the custodian of the TDP, together with private ITP investors, will need to spend some R400-billion to build 14 500 km of new powerlines and add 133 000 MVA of additional transformers to the grid by 2034.

Significant attention is, thus, being given to whether the roll-out could be leveraged to help revive South Africa's ailing manufacturing sector, as well as to rebuild capacity lost as a result of an extended period during which investment in the transmission system was suboptimal, and stop/start in nature.

However, Chibanguza warned that delays to the finalisation of the country's new public procurement framework had made previous local-content designations unenforceable and had created an "untenable situation" whereby State organs had become some of the country's largest importers of goods.

"The revised Public Procurement Bill provides a potential baseline for advancing an industrialisation agenda. However, the delays in developing supporting regulations - particularly around designation, localisation, and preferential procurement - pose a real risk," he warned.

Describing it as the "elephant in the room", he bemoaned the fact that long-term planning was currently proceeding on the basis of interim regulations that excluded local preferences in the form of designations.

"Those interim regulations have effectively nullified all historic preferences that were included in the Public Finance Management Act around localisation.

"You had power transformers designated for local procurement, you had steel products designated, and electrical cables but those designations no longer apply," Chibanguza explained.

Seifsa was, thus, appealing for a restatement by the National Treasury of clear localisation requirements for the TDP and an enforcement of those requirements.

In addition, it was preparing to make a formal submission to government in relation to the way the RFP issued for the inaugural ITP procurement programme had been drafted.

While stressing Seifsa's support for the ITP programme, which he believed would support an acceleration of grid projects, Chibanguza reported that many industry participants had expressed unhappiness with the contents of the RFP.

"The feeling is that the current RFP and the way it has been put together is structured for foreign companies," he explained, indicating that it would elaborate on these concerns in its formal submission to government and the NTCSA.

Eskom says its recently published request for proposals (RFP) inviting large power users to bid for 291 MW of solar PV capacity that the State-owned entity is aiming to introduce in phases from the end of 2027 has been tailored to meet the growing demand of such customers for solutions that reduce their indirect carbon emissions.

Successful bidders for what Eskom is calling its 'Renewable Energy Offtake Programme' will enter power purchase agreements (PPAs) of between five and 25 years, with the renewable electricity delivered in phases from multiple Eskom projects.

The earliest project is expected to reach commercial operation by December 2027.

No tariff range has been provided, with Eskom indicating in the RFP that the price bid by prospective offtakers will carry the heist weighting of 48% in its evaluation, followed by the length of the PPA term (32%) and the size of the offtake (20%).

Eskom has set a minimum offtake size of 10 MW, with the maximum offtake volume aligned to the 291 MW capacity envelope.

The solar PV projects themselves were not identified but Eskom said in a statement that it was targeting 2 GW of construction-ready projects by 2026.

In a recent interview with Engineering News, Eskom group executive for renewables Rivoningo Mnisi confirmed that work was under way on a 5 GW 'repowering' project pipeline at Komati, Hendrina, Grootvlei, Arnot, Camden and Kriel. This, alongside efforts to develop a standalone Eskom Green business that would partner with independent power producers to finance and build the renewables plants.

Mnisi also reaffirmed that Eskom has ambitions to develop a 32 GW renewables portfolio by 2040, which has raised questions about how Eskom will secure the finances and whether there will be fair competition for scare grid-connection access.

Mnisi reported that work was under way on a public-private partnership framework, with Eskom having the initial financial capacity to carry the costs of advancing the projects to bankability only, and not for construction. In addition, some of the development finance that could be made available for repowering under the Just Energy Transition Partnership was contingent on there being private participation.

In a statement CEO Dan Marokane described the offtake programme as the "next step in the focused execution of our strategy to integrate additional renewable energy into the grid".

He reported strong interest in Eskom supplying green energy, noting that the programme followed an expression of interest process and engagements with commercial and industrial customers.

Eskom Distribution acting group executive Agnes Mlambo added that the renewable energy offtake solution would enable customers to transition to low-carbon operations while ensuring a secure and competitive supply.

Large South Africa exporters are pursuing ways to decarbonise their electricity supply in light of the threat coal-fired electricity poses to their future competitiveness. This, as carbon border adjustment mechanisms are introduced, initially in Europe but with indications that similar schemes will be rolled out elsewhere.

The bid submission deadline for the RFP is September 19, 2025.

Licensed electricity trader Energy Exchange of Southern Africa (EXSA) describes its recently concluded 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Seriti Green as a major milestone in positioning the company as a sizeable "pure-play" trader ahead of South Africa's transition towards a more competitive market.

The R5-billion Mpumalanga project reached financial close in August on the back of the PPA, through which EXSA will buy all of the 525 GWh of electricity that the wind farm is expected to produce yearly once in full production. The 155 MW project, which will incorporate 25 wind turbines, is expected to begin generating electricity in October 2027.

The PPA is underpinned by the conclusion of firm offtake agreements between EXSA and several large corporate and industrial customers, whose signatures have been crucial for advancing the project to "bankability".

The local funders of the project received further comfort from the fact that the project is a second phase of the first wind farm developed by Seriti Green in Mpumalanga. Both projects form part of the larger 900 MW Ummbila Emoyeni complex, which will be built in phases and will also include solar PV and battery storage components.

EXSA CEO Wayne Cowie confirms with Engineering News that some of the initial offtakers are blue-chip entities owned by Remgro. Remgro holds 75% of EXSA, which was founded in 2017 and licensed by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) in 2022, while RMB owns the 25% balance.

Cowie says that, while a critical mass of offtakers have been secured for bankability, EXSA is now pursuing additional customers to ensure that the electricity is fully subscribed by the time the wind project enters into commercial operation.

"Reaching financial close on this project is a big step in our scaling up of EXSA," Cowie says, indicating that it has raised from 39 MW to 194 MW the capacity of renewable generation it has contracted to buy to date.

The initial projects include various solar PV projects in the Western Cape, as well as 4 MW of generation capacity from bagasse, a form of renewable energy produced as a sugarcane byproduct. Prior to the Seriti Green contract EXSA had offtake contracts with Woolworths, Wispeco, Siqalo Foods, Delaire Graaf, and Old Mutual amongst others and Cowie says the business has gained vital experience while trading at a relatively small scale.

"We will now take a little pause to digest this large Seriti Green project and focus on customers before returning to our pipeline of solar PV and wind opportunities," he reports, adding that it intends employing additional people in the coming months to ensure that the business' human resources are aligned to its expanded size. EXSA currently has eight employees but expects to expand the team significantly in the coming year.

As a pure-play trader, EXSA does not invest directly in the projects, which Cowie argues offers it the flexibility to partner with multiple generators while focusing on its core trading function. It also allows it to target partnerships with both wind and solar PV generators, which have complementary supply profiles in the South African context.

Chief technology officer Shailin Moodley says EXSA's trading focus also means that it can dedicate time and resources to understanding how the market is likely to change once the South African Wholesale Electricity Market, or SAWEM, is launched next year.

EXSA has participated in consultations on the Market Code and has also sent staff members to the pilot SAWEM School run by the National Transmission Company South Africa and has employees registered for the upcoming three-day school to be hosted at the University of Cape Town.

Moodley believes there will be an important role for traders, especially those with operational experience, once the SAWEM platform is launched and as the South African electricity market becomes increasingly competitive.

EXSA is monitoring developments around the SAWEM closely includin...

Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses the background to South Africa's economic reforms; the focus on electricity sector reforms, in particular; and a new initiative to provide an independent view of reforms progress or otherwise.

Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa on August 14 visited Seriti Green's flagship Ummbila Emoyeni renewable-energy project in Mpumalanga, highlighting it as an exemplar for the country's just energy transition (JET).

The project was "major", as it was located in the coal heartlands, where the majority of the country's energy came from, and also represented the coexistence of renewable-energy technology with coal, the Minister told media on the sidelines of the visit.

"What's more significant is that Seriti Green has been able to invest in the people, and ensure the coexistence of primary agriculture and the interventions that they are making. The Seriti Green project is a perfect illustration of what can be achieved - a genuine, JET," he acclaimed.

He also welcomed the investment from Chinese-company Goldwind, which was supplying the wind turbines to Seriti Green, as it represented foreign direct investment into the country.

Seriti Green project manager Rudolph Botha pointed out that an associated benefit of the project was the company's R50-million co-investment with Goldwind in upgrading the facilities at the Port of Richards Bay, where the turbines for the project were being delivered.

Ramokgopa emphasised that energy development was a lynchpin for economic development in the country.

"Energy leads and the rest follows. It must be affordable and the mix must be right. Ummbila Emoyeni is a perfect illustration of the best of the renewable-energy sector and it is significant that it is happening in Mpumalanga." (Also see attached video for more of the Minister's thoughts on the positive impact of the project.)

Seriti Green, a wholly South African and majority black-owned independent power producer, is pursuing the advancement of the country's JET, through the Ummbila Emoyeni project, as well as the adjacently-located Phefumula Emoyeni wind farm project.

The company is a subsidiary of Seriti Resources, which has a 54.18% stake, while other shareholders include VennEnergy with a 15% stake, Rand Merchant Bank with a 15.41% stake and Standard Bank with a 15.41% stake.

Seriti Resources CEO Mike Teke explained that coal still had a role to play in the country's energy mix as part of the JET, noting that the group was cognisant of this, with no plans to sell any of its coal mine assets, and continuing to develop these.

The project is a manifestation of Seriti Resources' hybrid strategy of having both coal and renewable-energy assets in its portfolio.

"What has been unfortunate in the country is what I call the binarization of the conversation - it's coal or renewables - and I'm saying it's all of the above, but also accepting that there's going to be an exponential increase of the share of renewables in the mix, and then reduce the emissions of the coal power stations that continue to run," Ramokgopa commented.

However, Teke did draw attention to an issue being faced as that of the onerous red tape companies contend with, with long lead times and challenges in the approvals process.

Seriti Green CEO Peter Venn reiterated this point, noting that it took several years to secure the paperwork to build the project, incongruously longer that the time it takes to actually build it.

Ramokgopa acknowledged that private investment in renewable energy was necessary to meet the country's goals of an additional 15 GW of energy by 2030, and that this would not be realised without resolving regulatory challenges.

"What we want to do is to make sure that we ease the regulatory requirements, the time it takes for the approvals to happen, in particular, the zoning, the environmental-impact assessments (EIAs), the water-use licences and the grid access - you need to truncate all of that," he told Engineering News and Mining Weekly.

He added that issues being faced in the space were gleaned from discussions with Seriti on the day, underscoring the importance of learning from live projects.

Ramokgopa mentioned that it was signifi...

Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) has officially launched a free online platform that provides a regularly updated view of the progress, or otherwise, government is making in implementing priority economic, governance and criminal justice reforms.

Dubbed the 'BLSA Reform Tracker', the platform provides a dashboard view of the reforms being implemented across the three areas, including the priority economic reforms being pursued under Operation Vulindlela, the joint project of the Presidency and the National Treasury set up in 2020 to address constraints to growth and investment.

Speaking at the launch of the platform in Johannesburg, BLSA CEO Busisiwe Mavuso described the tracker as a strategic tool to support government and business in understanding reform dynamics, including "what's working, what's stalled, and what's needed to unlock progress".

She said the decision to invest in the tracker was based on the importance business ascribed to the reforms to help improve investor confidence, raise investment and elevate growth to a level where the economy could begin creating jobs at the scale needed to address the prevailing extreme levels of unemployment.

She expressed optimism that the tracker would help empower business leaders to make informed decisions based on credible and up-to-date data.

Also speaking at the launch, Deputy Finance Minister Ashor Sarupen underlined the importance to the Government of National Unity of the reforms, insisting that they were "not an academic exercise".

"They are the most direct route to raising South Africa's potential growth rate, increasing competitiveness, and creating jobs," Sarupen said, while welcoming the tracker for adding an additional layer of transparency to government's reform agenda.

"The reforms we are implementing now will define our economic trajectory for the next decade. They demand persistence, collaboration, and an unwavering focus on outcomes," he added.

The Presidency's Rudi Dicks, who oversees Operation Vulindlela, said that, while the BLSA Reform Tracker went beyond the reforms being pursued under Operation Vulindlela, it could lend credibility to government's own claims of reform progress, where advances were confirmed by the tracker, while adding pressure on government where progress was lagging.

Operation Vulindlela initially focused on reforms in the electricity, freight logistics, water, broadband spectrum and visa sectors, but its scope has been broadened in 'Phase 2' to include municipalities, digital governance and economy and addressing spatial inequality.

This sentiment was underlined by Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Maropene Ramokgopa, who said the tracker was not only a monitoring tool, but an "accountability mirror".

Developed over the past two years by research consultancy Krutham, the BLSA Reform Tracker is monitoring progress across 240 'reform deliverables', which are reviewed and scored quarterly.

These reviewed results are available at https://tracker.blsa.org.za/, with progress displayed using a colour-coded 'heat map', with 'green' indicating that the reform is on track, 'amber' indicating progress, but with challenges that need to be addressed and 'red' that there are critical obstacles preventing progress and that need immediate attention.

An inaugural Quarterly Review compiled using the information included in the tracker indicates that 26 reforms have been completed, 59 are showing strong progress, 108 are on track but in need attention, while 19 are facing major obstacles.

Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa insists that the reforms under way in the electricity sector are "irreversible", and has again confirmed that he has asked the Eskom board not to proceed with its legal case against the regulator's decision to license five additional electricity traders in 2024.

Having called a media briefing to provide an update on the performance of the grid amid concerns that Eskom was again relying too heavily on its expensive diesel generators, Ramokgopa fielded a series of questions about the status of the reform process and Eskom's move to have the High Court review and set aside five domestic trading licences.

The briefing also followed a statement by the South African Local Government Association (Salga) in which it joined Eskom in voicing opposition to the licensing of traders by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) "without a clear regulatory framework".

Salga argued that there was a risk that municipal revenues and service-delivery capacity could be eroded should traders target what it described as "high-value, reliable customers", and leave municipalities with a "disproportionate share of defaulting customers".

In its review application against Nersa, in which Green Electron Market, CBI Electric Apollo, GreenCo Power Services, Discovery Green and NOA Group Trading are cited, Eskom has argued that the licences should not have been issued in the absence of trading rules. This despite the fact that trading licences had been awarded to several other entities prior to 2024, as well as subsequently in 2025, with more applications currently under adjudication.

Eskom argues that the five licences unlawfully infringe on its existing licence and areas of supply and could lead to a 'cherry-picking' of profitable customers by traders.

In a joint statement, Business Unity South Africa and Business Leadership South Africa slammed Eskom's legal challenge, which they said was undermining South Africa's national goal of achieving energy security, instead creating uncertainty and sending a negative signal to investors.

In response, Ramokgopa issued a statement on August 8 urging Eskom to withdraw its case and in the briefing reiterated that stance.

He said that, while it was only natural to have friction as the market shifted from a monopolistic structure to one that included multiple participants, he was not in favour of Eskom resorting to the courts to resolve what was a technically complex matter.

He highlighted that Nersa had initiated a process to finalise the rules, and the timeline had been reduced from an initial 12 months to three months in an effort to bring certainty as a matter of priority.

"It's in that context that I told Eskom that it's not advisable that they go to the courts," he said, indicating that he had conveyed the message directly to Eskom chairperson Dr Mteto Nyati in a recent meeting.

He described the court process as a "particularly unhelpful approach" that would "muddy the waters" and indicated that he had urged Eskom to, instead, contribute to the rules-setting process, so that the way was again cleared for Nersa to issue trading licences.

"Everyone wants a rules-based approach," he said, indicating that he was optimistic that all market participants would be able to tolerate a three-month process.

As Eskom's shareholder Minister, Ramokgopa denied that Eskom was opposed to the reforms and also insisted that government had no intention of reversing course.

"The reform agenda is irreversible," the Minister stressed.

He added that the changes were being pursued primarily to remove the prevailing risk to stable and affordable electricity supply by having responsibility for that supply concentrated in a single entity.

He also argued that Eskom should be allowed to participate in the unfolding energy transition, including by investing in renewable energy.

The utility has indicated that, beside a 5 GW project portfolio directly linked to land and infr...

South Africa will submit its revised trade offer to the US on August 12, after its previous 'Framework Agreement' submitted in May failed to avert the institution of 30% 'reciprocal tariffs' on South African products as from August 8.

Details of the new offer were not provided during a joint briefing hosted on Tuesday by Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau and Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen, owing to a non-disclosure agreement in place with the US.

Nevertheless, it was confirmed that it was confined to trade and tariff matters and did not include offers in relation to some of the domestic policy complaints raised by President Donald Trump during his Oval Office meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa in May.

Tau confirmed that the revised offer had been approved by Cabinet on August 6, while Steenhuisen described it as a "broad, generous and open offer" that sought to meet the ambition criteria set by the US and which he argued would be good for both South Africa and the US if adopted.

"The new offer substantively responds to the issues the US has raised in the 2025 National Trade Estimates Report," Tau said, indicating that it built on the previous offer submitted in May.

He also confirmed that there had been engagements with the US subsequent to the imposition of the 30% tariffs and that Department of Trade, Industry and Competition' hief director for bilateral trade relations Malose Anthony Letsoalo had been stationed in Washington DC to ensure ongoing contact and discussions.

Likewise, Steenhuisen said that the Department of Agriculture had set up a high-level team that included its director-general, Mooketsa Ramasodi, to engage the US, while agricultural attaché Dr JB Jaftha was now in Washington DC to help deal with some of the phytosanitary issues arising from both the US and South Africa.

Steenhuisen acknowledged that non-trade policy issues had been raised with South Africa and other countries by the Trump administration, describing it as a "new normal". These included concerns in relation to farm murders, South Africa's black empowerment and affirmative action policies and the country's land exploration legislation.

However, Steenhuisen, who is also leader of the Democratic Alliance which is participating in the Government of National Unity led by Ramaphosa, stressed that his and Tau's interactions with the US were confined to trade and tariff matters.

International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola was pursuing diplomatic efforts on other matters raised, Steenhuisen stated.

SHOW OF GOODWILL

Tau also confirmed that, notwithstanding the ongoing negotiations, South Africa had already taken various proactive steps to address longstanding concerns raised by the US as a show of "goodwill".

On poultry, South Africa had granted market access under the conditional self-ban and self-lifting system, which would enable the US to leverage the Tariff Rate Quota of 72 000 t agreed in 2016.

For blueberries, South Africa had granted market access for US states that are free of fruit fly and agreed to mitigation measures with those states with fruit fly, while trade would be opened in relation to pork subject to the bio-security requirements.

"Consequently, the USA-Africa Trade Desk has informed us that it will be shipping containers of poultry and pork to South Africa in two weeks' time, which is testimony that these issues have been resolved," Tau announced.

"The shipments will come from the states of Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, North Carolina and Alabama through the Ports of New Orleans in Louisiana, Savanna in Georgia, and Norfolk in Virginia."

The US is South Africa's third-largest trading partner after the EU and China, and accounts for about 4%, or R9.8-billion, of the country's total yearly agriculture exports.

Steenhuisen stressed the counter-seasonality of many of South Africa's agricultural exports, highlighting the quality and cost competitiveness of the country's citrus ex...