Rapid declines in battery costs are transforming the economics of renewable power, a new report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) asserts, adding that the co-location of batteries with new utility-scale solar PV is emerging as the default configuration.

In 2025, battery costs fell faster than those of any other energy technology, with Irena estimating the installed cost of a four-hour utility-scale battery at $140/kWh – a decrease of close to 30% in a single year and around 95% since 2010.

Global battery deployments rose strongly to between 108 GW and 112 GW last year, representing a 40% to 48% year-on-year increase, with falling battery costs driving the rapid growth of hybrid solar-plus-storage systems.

"As storage has become more affordable, solar and wind projects are increasingly being paired with battery energy storage systems," the Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2025 report states.

About one-quarter of all utility-scale solar PV commissioned globally in 2025 had been paired with battery storage, which Irena calculates to be a roughly sixfold rise in the share of co-location since 2020.

Co-location, the report adds, has moved from a niche option to the default configuration for new utility-scale solar, with the best hybrid sites now delivering 'firm' around-the-clock power at below $85/MWh.

"This is improving the utilisation of grid connections, shifting generation to periods of higher demand and reducing exposure to low or volatile electricity prices."

Irena says two forces have been driving this shift, including:

lower project costs, with shared grid connections, land and balance-of-plant systems reducing capital costs by around one-fifth relative to building the two assets separately; and changing market conditions, whereby the rising number of hours of zero or negative wholesale prices in high-penetration markets such as Europe and Australia has eroded the revenues of standalone solar, while the addition of storage shifts output to higher-value hours.

"This trend [of co-location] reflects growing pressure on standalone solar projects in some markets, where declining daytime prices and increasing curtailment have reduced the value of generation during peak production periods."

Irena forecasts that the costs of hybrid systems should keep falling over the next five years, but warns that the decline will be slower and uneven across various regions.

"The costs of mature technologies, such as solar PV and onshore wind, are plateauing, while batteries and long-duration storage are expected to see further cost reductions as deployment increases."

Overall renewable power costs remained low last year, with Irena estimating that more than 90% of the utility-scale renewable capacity added during the year was cheaper than the lowest-cost new fossil alternative.

"In 2025, solar PV remained at its 2024 level of $44/MWh, while wind continued to improve, with onshore wind falling by 4% to $33/MWh and offshore wind by 3% to $78/MWh," the report states.

However, Irena highlights that clean-tech manufacturing investment has halved, from a quarterly peak of $70-billion in 2023 to $35-billion by the end of 2025, while China is reorganising its renewables industry amid input price increases.

"These developments, combined with a shifting trade and tariff landscape, are likely to exert upward pressure on total installed costs throughout this year."

Over the longer term, however, Irena's outlook suggests that costs will continue to decline through to 2035, though far more slowly than before. Since 2010, the cost of solar PV has fallen by 89%, while onshore wind costs have declined by 71%.

Despite the plateau, Irena expects renewables to retain a cost advantage over fossil fuels, given that the cost of new fossil fuel-fired generation continued to rise in 2025, partly owing to a gas-turbine shortage driven by surging data-centre demand.

Record global electricity demand last year was met entirely by low-carbon sources, resulting in fossil fuels generation being substituted rather than supplemented, the Energy Institute's 'Statistical Review of World Energy 2026' shows.

Fossil generation fell overall with renewables and hydro overtaking coal as the largest source of electricity generation, the review, produced in partnership with Ember and in collaboration with Kearney and KPMG, states.

Solar generation expanded by 30% worldwide, while battery capacity grew at 66%, reinforcing the position of the two technologies as the fastest-scaling clean technologies.

The review, which marks its seventy-fifth anniversary this year after the Energy Institute took over its publication from BP in 2023, also concludes that global electrification has reached a tipping point, with demand continuing to grow faster than total energy supply.

Total global electricity generation increased by 3% last year to reach 32 202 TWh, with renewables growth of 861 TWh exceeding the absolute growth in electricity demand in 2025 of 855 TWh, leading to a fall in fossil power.

Electricity demand rose 3% year-on-year, underpinned by new drivers such as electric vehicles and data centres.

China recorded the fastest growth of any major economy at over 5%, adding electricity demand equivalent to the entire consumption of Germany in a single year.

The review indicates that consumption from data centres was reported at 788 TWh, 40% of which arose in the US.

Overall global energy demand also rose 1.7%, as did global emissions by 1.1%, with the US recording a 3.2% increase in emissions, the largest among major economies, driven by a 13% rise in coal generation.

China's emissions grew by 0.3%, while India's rose 0.9%.

"This year's review shows an energy system at a tipping point: record demand, a historic breakthrough in low-carbon electricity, and sharply diverging regional pathways," Energy Institute CEO Dr Nick Wayth argues.

"We see encouraging substitution of fossil fuels in power, yet global emissions continue to rise and energy security pressures intensify.

"These findings underline the urgency of accelerating efficiency, electrification and investment in clean technologies worldwide," Wayth adds.

The Energy Institute also argues that global energy choke points are shifting towards critical minerals, such as copper and lithium.

This, despite recent disruptions to the supply of fossil fuels when shipping in the Strait of Hormuz was blocked after the US and Israel attacked Iran in late February.

Supply pressures were eased, the institute states, by the 4.8% growth in oil production in the Americas in 2025.

The Americas now produce 20% more oil than the Middle East, with a 4% increase in US oil and gas production in 2025; a flip from two decades ago when the Middle East produced 20% more.

New research into the crisis afflicting the City of Johannesburg warns that the widening structural imbalance between the metro's operating expenditure and capital expenditure (capex) poses a threat to long-term service delivery.

Produced by Genesis Analytics, and presented recently to Business Leadership South Africa by Lael Bethlehem, the analysis shows that, in real terms, the city's operating expenditure had grown by 92.5% since 2010, while capital investment had contracted by 12.8%.

Capex as a share of total spending had fallen from about 17% in 2010 to about 7% in 2025, on the back of budgets that have been heavily skewed towards operating expenditure, especially expenditure on personnel.

The City of Johannesburg passed a R97.1-billion budget for the 2026/27 financial year on May 28, amid deepening concerns over outstanding debt and salary adjustments that were flagged as unsustainable.

The latter issue was also raised by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana in his well-publicised April 23 letter to Mayor Dada Morero, in which Godongwana warned that the National Treasury might halt the transfer of funds to the city because of its non-compliance with the Municipal Finance Management Act.

A follow-up letter was sent on June 19, asking the city to give reasons why the Equitable Share should not be withheld and detailing additional information required on debts owed to Eskom and Rand Water.

For its part, Eskom, which is owed arrear debt of R5.3-billion, is proceeding with consultations with residents and businesses that would be affected should it decide to interrupt supply, owing to non-payment.

The City of Johannesburg, the research states, also trails the City of Cape Town and eThekwini in capex per capita, while having the highest number of municipal employees per 1 000 residents.

"Operating expenditure will have to be cut. This will be painful and will generate conflict, but there is no choice [as] current levels are utterly unsustainable," the analysis concludes.

The research paints a grim picture of "political and administrative chaos" over the past ten years, during which there have been eight mayors and constant shifts in political coalitions.

It also states that criminal syndicates have become embedded in the city, and that centres of power have been carved up and distributed between different parties and individuals, influencing procurement, budgeting and hiring.

Simultaneously, there has been an exodus of skilled personnel.

The research, which follows on from a formal offer by organised business to assist the city, which has as yet not been accepted, outlines four priorities for turning the city around, including:

Installing determined, honest and accountable political leadership under a stable coalition capable of taking on established interests and syndicates, alongside capable administrative leadership;

Rooting out criminal syndicates by pursuing forensic investigations and revised human-resources conditions, together with disciplinary processes and the replacement of corrupt officials;

Reorganising water and electricity services by fully ring-fencing City Power and Joburg Water and maximising capex from internal resources and grants. The National Treasury's Metro Trading Services programme could be supportive of this process, but the research suggests that the entities should also consider partnering with international utilities and entering into long-term concessions to attract investment and improve management. It also argues that renewable power should be purchased from independent power producers to reduce costs and environmental impact; and

The creation of a credible financial plan, which could involve revising the three-year budgets and devising a ten-year recovery plan. The research argues that new sources of funding will have to be found either from the National Treasury or through private concessions, while operating expenditure will have to be cut.

In her weekly newsletter, Business Leadership South...

Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses the increased attention being given to the link between infrastructure delivery, procurement policy and industrialisation in South Africa, as well as what this could mean for industry and from a policy perspective.

UK impact investor and development finance institution (DFI), British International Investment (BII), invested £1.07-billion in Africa last year.

The figure represents 59% of BII's total investments for the year.

BII has also announced that its climate commitments have exceeded $1-billion in a single year.

Over the last four years, BII made $3.3-billion (£2.6-billion) in climate finance investments.

Climate finance qualifying investments included a range of commitments, from utility-level renewable energy generation projects in countries such as Egypt, to e-mobility startups in Kenya.

Egypt, Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria remain BII's four largest African markets in terms of portfolio size.

As part of BII's new strategy, unveiled earlier this year, at least 25% of its new investments will be made in frontier markets – those designated by the UN as the least developed countries in the world.

BII said its yearly portfolio level return over a seven-year weighted average was 3.8%, and it now had investments in nearly 1 700 companies.

"BII has been supporting African businesses for nearly eight decades," says BII Africa head Chris Chijiutomi.

"Our 2025 commitment further underlines our unwavering support to the continent as we continue to focus on supporting the growth of businesses and helping to create quality jobs across the continent."

BII-related climate finance deals in 2025 included the Allianz ACE Fund, which is a BII-anchored blended finance fund with $150-million of DFI commitments that is set to mobilise $850-million from private institutions.

It also included the Gulf of Suez Wind Farm and the Obelisk solar and battery storage development in Egypt, as well as ARC Ride, an electric motorbike manufacturer and battery-swapping company in Kenya.

Earlier this year, BII deepened its climate finance commitments with the launch of British Climate Partners, a £1.1-billion initiative designed to mobilise large-scale institutional capital into climate solutions across fast-growing and coal-dependent economies in Asia.

"The past year has been defined by global shifts that are reshaping the landscape for development finance," says BII chairperson Diana Layfield.

"As we conclude our current strategy period and look ahead to the next, it is clear the world in which we operate has become more complex and more demanding of long-term investment.

"Financing for development is changing. At the same time, the gap between countries – particularly the most climate and conflict vulnerable – is widening," adds Layfield.

"And the urgency of tackling climate change is greater than ever. This context underscores the need for more effective partnerships, greater mobilisation of private capital and investment that delivers sustainable economic growth."

The Department of Agriculture (DoA) has approved new Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) control measures that will reportedly provide farmers, veterinarians and veterinary authorities with a clear and practical, science-based framework for managing outbreaks while minimising economic losses.

The measures will consolidate and replace previous directives under Section 9 of the Animal Diseases Act, including the 2019 FMD Contingency Plan.

Government says South Africa will, for the first time, have a single integrated set of national control measures that clearly outline how FMD outbreaks must be managed – from detection through to recovery.

The department says the country's livestock producers need certainty: clear rules, sound science and practical pathways that allow them to manage outbreaks without unnecessarily jeopardising their livelihoods.

FMD remains one of the most economically devastating animal diseases facing livestock producers. An outbreak can disrupt production, restrict market access, threaten jobs and place immense financial pressure on farming families and rural communities.

Accordingly, the department explains that the new measures seek to strike a balance between protecting animal health and ensuring that farming businesses can continue operating safely wherever the scientific evidence allows.

Importantly, the measures clarify that animals that have been vaccinated but have never been infected and have not been subject to quarantine remain healthy animals and may continue to be traded and moved in accordance with normal requirements.

One of the most significant advances contained in the new framework is the introduction of clearer pathways for trade to continue during quarantine periods.

Rather than imposing blanket restrictions that unnecessarily prolong economic hardship, the measures establish scientifically informed timelines that allow livestock producers to resume certain activities once the risk of disease transmission has been adequately managed.

Animals may be directed to designated FMD abattoirs from 16 days after a property has been declared clinically clear, while broader slaughter options become available after 42 days, including access to export-approved facilities.

"The objective is simple: protect animal health and stop the disease spreading, while ensuring that farmers can continue operating safely wherever possible. Disease control and economic sustainability cannot be treated as mutually exclusive goals," the department states.

The updated measures also substantially reduce unnecessary wastage of animal products and agricultural inputs.

Advances in scientific understanding of the FMD virus have demonstrated that certain materials do not pose a risk for as long as previously believed.

As a result, fewer animal products need to be destroyed, reducing financial losses for producers while maintaining the highest standards of food safety and disease control.

Feed, fodder and manure will similarly be managed according to scientifically established risk periods rather than blanket disposal requirements.

Another major reform is the move away from the historic assumption that entire herds must be removed before quarantine can be lifted.

Under the new framework, producers will have several pathways available to achieve disease recovery and lift quarantine restrictions.

Depending on the circumstances, farms may remove animals, restock with vaccinated animals or restock with animals from FMD-free sources. These options provide significantly greater flexibility and reduce the financial devastation that can result from unnecessary whole-herd depopulation.

"For many farmers, particularly those operating under difficult financial conditions, the prospect of losing an entire herd can be devastating. These measures introduce practical alternatives that are scientifically sound and economically realistic," the department says.

COMMUNAL SYSTEMS

For the first time, the measures also provide specific provisions for ...

Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) president Mervyn Naidoo has called on government to urgently close the prevailing gap between its stated commitment to support industrialisation through localisation and the manner in which public procurement is being implemented.

"The problem is not the rhetoric," Naidoo argued at a Seifsa event in Johannesburg on June 24, attended by government officials.

"The problem is the gap between what is promised and what actually happens on the ground," Naidoo, who is also Actom CEO, said.

Speaking against the backdrop of ongoing deindustrialisation and amid warnings that South Africa risked losing its historical capability and capacity in the metals and engineering sector as imports surged, Naidoo described industrialisation as a deliberate policy choice.

Delivering on that choice, however, required not only clear policy intent, which Naidoo said was largely in place, but also "long-term consistency and disciplined execution" rather than policymaking that reacted to crises or short-term shocks.

"Competitive advantage is created. No country develops globally competitive industrial policy by hoping that market forces alone will deliver it," Naidoo added, pointing to China, where manufacturing had underpinned the country's sustained period of economic growth and modernisation.

While welcoming recent initiatives to increase tariff protection for companies operating in the steel value chain, the Seifsa president argued that the two immediate policy challenges now were those of growing demand and lowering the cost of doing business.

Describing demand as the "oxygen" of industrial activity, he also argued that demand alone was not enough.

"Demand must be consciously directed where domestic capability and domestic capacity exist," Naidoo said, while calling for public procurement to transition from the prevailing transactional model to one that was more long-term and strategic in nature.

Seifsa was particularly keen for such a procurement model to be implemented as government pursued its R1-trillion infrastructure roll-out over the coming three years, and would make the case for this new approach in its official input on the regulations arising from the Public Procurement Act, which were out for public comment until July 15.

The regulations are necessary to bring into effect the Public Procurement Act, 2024, which was assented to by President Cyril Ramaphosa in July 2024.

Various Seifsa members regularly report that government's localisation commitments have failed to translate into procurement decisions at departments, municipalities and State-owned companies.

The second priority highlighted related to improving the cost structures confronting industry, particularly in the areas of energy and logistics, where South African manufacturers had experienced steep and sustained input cost increases over the past number of years.

"Companies cannot compete locally or globally while carrying structurally inflated costs," he said.

The address was made just over a week after the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition published its Cabinet-approved Industrial Development Strategy (IDS), which had been met with a mixed reaction.

Seifsa itself described the IDS as strong in articulating broad principles and policy intentions, but thin on implementation detail, and said more consultation was needed to develop the strategy into practical sector-specific road maps.

"For the metals and engineering sector, this means focusing on the core enablers of competitiveness: affordable and reliable energy, logistics efficiency, infrastructure-led demand creation, effective trade measures, localisation, investment support and policy certainty."

Infrastructure South Africa (ISA) has raised concern about the high level of tender cancellations, which it believes is having a negative impact on the construction market, as well as on meeting the country's goal of raising gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) to 30% of GDP.

ISA acting head Simphiwe Ndlovu told members of Parliament's Select Committee on Public Infrastructure that a recent high-level analysis showed that more than 70% of the total number of advertised tenders had been either cancelled or closed.

Cancelled tenders were defined as those that had been advertised but subsequently cancelled before the closing date.

Closed tenders were those that had passed their closing date but were either still being evaluated, had been evaluated but no award had been made, or had been abandoned post-evaluation.

Of the 12 622 advertised tenders assessed – covering the categories of construction, construction of buildings, and specialised construction of buildings – only 29.89% had been awarded.

"In 2025, 2 549 tenders were advertised, of which only 16.98% were awarded," Ndlovu revealed.

He also reported that a recent analysis of procurement data showed that only 39% of tenders advertised on the Chief Procurement Officer's eTenders portal had been successfully awarded.

The analysis showed that Eskom had cancelled 159 tenders, followed closely by the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa with 150, and Transnet with 129.

Other entities with significant cancellation figures included the Department of Water and Sanitation (96), the Road Accident Fund (80), and Public Works (69).

The data also revealed notable differences in performance across provinces, with the Western Cape leading with a 21% award rate in 2025, and Mpumalanga lagging with the lowest rate at just 5.8%.

Tender cancellations, Ndlovu said, not only harmed service delivery but also negatively impacted the construction sector.

Cancellations, he argued, reduce market confidence, result in less staff hiring, and have negative financial impacts owing to the time and money invested by companies in preparing tender documentation.

Small and medium-sized enterprises are not always able to absorb these costs, while the lack of projects could also lead to highly skilled professionals leaving the country, exacerbating the current skills shortage.

In his presentation to the committee, Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson said he remained deeply worried by the fact that GFCF as a percentage of GDP continued to fall, despite the promised R1-trillion for public infrastructure over the coming three years.

ISA said GFCF stood at 13.71% of GDP in 2025, representing a major investment gap relative to the 30% target that had been set for 2030 in the National Development Plan.

He raised particular concern about the ability of local government to invest in large infrastructure projects, noting that hundreds of billions of rands were being returned to the National Treasury yearly owing to municipalities' inability to plan, prepare, and execute infrastructure projects.

"We are addressing it through our flagship Presidential Adopt-a-Municipality Pilot Programme," Macpherson said, describing the initiative as an innovation aimed at supporting municipalities to move stalled projects into implementation.

Transnet has issued a formal request for proposals (RFP) to two shortlisted bidders that participated in an earlier request for qualification (RFQ) process relating to the creation of a railways rolling stock leasing entity, dubbed LeaseCo, as a public–private partnership.

The identities of the two bidders were not released, with Transnet confirming only that the shortlisted bidders had been selected from among the 14 respondents to the April RFQ.

LeaseCo will be responsible for the acquisition, management, and leasing of rolling stock to domestic and regional markets and is being implemented as a private sector participation project involving Transnet Engineering.

"The private sector majority partner will bring capital, technical expertise and operational capability to revitalise, manage and expand the fleet," Transnet said in a statement confirming the launch of the RFP.

Transnet told Engineering News that once the bid closed in December, a dedicated team would evaluate the submitted bids, and recommend the preferred bidder, which would then be subjected to a comprehensive due diligence.

Subsequently, Transnet would enter into negotiations with the preferred bidder until financial close is reached; a process that is expected to take about 12 months from now to complete.

Transnet reported in May that, owing to market demand from private train operating companies (TOCs), rolling stock assets had already been allocated for leasing by Transnet Engineering.

It also announced leasing agreements with five of the 11 TOCs that had received rail access agreements from the Transnet Rail Infrastructure Manager, or TRIM.

These leasing contracts would be transferred to LeaseCo once it was formally established.

"The business is structured as a commercially viable, independently governed leasing entity," Transnet said, reaffirming that it would contribute a ring-fenced fleet of rolling stock assets as equity, as well as original equipment manufacturer capabilities through Transnet Engineering.

Engineering News has reported previously that some 500 diesel and electric locomotives and 17 000 wagons would be injected into LeaseCo, to be set up as a special purpose vehicle (SPV) following the appointment of the preferred bidder and once the transaction had reached financial close.

No timeframe has been provided by Transnet for the selection of the private partner and the creation of the SPV, however.

Transnet Group CEO Michelle Phillips said LeaseCo represented a transformative initiative primed to modernise Africa's rail system, mobilise private capital, and enhance the reliability of freight logistics.

"With the significant demand from TOCs, LeaseCo is well positioned as an appealing investment opportunity," she said.

It has been a busy week with South Africa having hosted the Africa Energy Forum amid some big global developments that could affect oil and gas markets.