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Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has described the wheeling framework approved by the regulator as highly "consequential" for the sector, as well as for meeting government's ambitions to diversify generation to include more renewable energy and independent power producers.

The framework was approved by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) in March, but was officially unveiled by Ramokgopa at a briefing that included Nersa chairperson Thembani Bukula.

Bukula stressed that wheeling was not new, with over 100 such arrangements having already been implemented over the past 15 years.

However, he said the new framework provided a standardised set of rules for third-party wheeling across the entire network, including wheeling in and out of municipal supply areas.

It caters for non-discriminatory access, stipulates that charges be cost-reflective, and it also allows for generators licensed or registered with Nersa to participate in wheeling transactions at low-, medium- and high-voltage levels.

In addition, unbundled use-of-system charges could not discriminate between customers supplied by the network licensee and those supplied through bilateral or multilateral transactions, including ones facilitated by traders.

Eskom has indicated that it will launch a legal objection to Nersa's most recent decision to license additional traders, but Bukula says the regulator is yet to receive information from Eskom regarding its case and that the licence approvals were made in line with legislation.

He added that the newly enforced Electricity Regulation Amendment Act also catered for the licensing of traders in anticipation of greater market competition in future.

The immediate constraint, however, related to insufficient grid infrastructure, which Bukula said Nersa was looking to unlock in the near-term through its recent approval on new curtailment rules.

These initial rules class curtailment as an ancillary service for a period of three years, during which the rules will be updated. Bukula estimated that up to 3 000 MW of grid capacity could be unlocked.

Besides clarifying the rules for systems access, Ramokgopa argued that the framework also governed fees for accessing the network, which he likened to charges paid for use of toll roads.

He added that the framework would stimulate generator competition, spur investment and enable export-facing businesses to access the green electricity they needed to trade in jurisdictions where carbon border adjustment mechanisms were being introduced.

Describing the framework as the "most consequential intervention" undertaken in the electricity sector by the current administration, he argued that it would "help us remake the energy and electricity landscape".

"It is also consistent with our objective of ensuring that we achieved energy security in the country and we are able to diversify generation sources so that we don't only rely on Eskom."

Eskom CEO Dan Marokane has indicated that the State-owned utility is planning to "smooth" its maintenance profile over a longer horizon to avoid the security-of-supply risks currently associated with the concentration of maintenance in the summer months.

Speaking at the release of a winter outlook, where Eskom's base case is for a loadshedding-free period from April 1 to August 31, Marokane acknowledged the difficulties faced last summer, when 14 days where affected by rotational cuts, breaking a 300-plus-day period when no loadshedding was implemented.

In February, Eskom even resorted to Stage 6 loadshedding after multiple units tripped across various coal stations, while multiple units were out for planned summer maintenance.

Chairperson Mteto Nyati said Eskom was not proud of the period between January and April, reporting that the five loadshedding episodes during the period had led to a board-level interrogation of the causes, which he said could be attributed primarily to people-related failures.

Nyati said remedial actions were being taken, particularly at the leadership level, to arrest the decline and consolidate a high-performance culture.

Marokane said the introduction of additional capacity at Medupi and Kusile, together with the finalisation in July of another extended outage at Koeberg Unit 1 as part of additional actions required following its 20-year life extension approval, should provide Eskom with space to spread out maintenance in future.

Group executive for generation Bheki Nxumalo said that the outage slips during summer were attributable to the enlarged scope of some projects to include environmental upgrades, as well as capacity constraints, including within its supplier base.

The division was, thus, working on a different plan for the next outage cycle.

"We are talking with the team about planning differently for summer now. At least in winter we are dealing with one variable, which is the cold. Summer you are dealing with high planned maintenance and changing weather conditions, which makes it very difficult to recover once the units are off," Nxumalo said.

The slippages, as well as the repair of the Kusile units that were using temporary stacks after a flue collapse, resulted in Eskom failing to achieving its 65% energy availability factor (EAF) target by the end of March.

Marokane reported a 61% EAF for the financial year that ended on March 31 and announced a R16-billion, or 50%, reduction in spending on diesel during the year. However, diesel use had increased materially in the first few months of 2025 to close the gaps created by planned maintenance and unplanned events.

He was more bullish about the outlook, though, stating that no loadshedding was expected this winter, if unplanned losses remained below 13 GW.

At worst, 21 days of up to Stage 2 loadshedding would be implemented should unplanned losses reach 15 GW.

Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has announced that the load factor for proposed gas-to-power (GtP) plants in South Africa will be increased from 25% to above 50%.

Speaking at the release of Eskom's winter outlook, the Minister said the policy change had been made following feedback from the market on what would be required to stimulate gas demand to solve what he described as an economic rather than an electricity problem.

"We are not resolving an electricity problem, we are resolving an energy problem and an economic problem: to be able to address the suppressed demand with regards to gas," he said.

Ramokgopa's statement comes amid ongoing discussions on how to solve South Africa's so-called 'gas cliff'; a scenario that will arise later this decade when natural gas supply to industry in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal will fall precipitously in line with tapering supply from Sasol's Pande and Temane gas fields, in southern Mozambique.

Discussions on possible solutions have been under way for some time, including on the level of demand required to facilitate the creation of the infrastructure that would be required to replace the natural gas from Mozambique with imported liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Proponents of LNG imports have argued that "anchor" GtP demand is required to unlock investments in import terminals and pipelines, with projects being advanced in both Maputo, in Mozambique, and Richards Bay, in KwaZulu-Natal.

Ramokgopa said the 25% load factor outlined by the system operator for electricity would not be sufficient to "spur the industry" and that the load factor should thus be "50%-plus".

"Essentially, I'm standing here to announce a policy position of government in relation to gas to power.

"The load factor is not 25%, it's significantly higher," he said.

It was not immediately apparent as to whether the announcement would apply to the inaugural Gas Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (GASIPPPP), the bid submission deadline for which has been delayed from March 25 to October 31.

The GASIPPPP tender assumes a flexible operation of the GtP plants, rather than the far higher load factor outlined by the Minister.

It is possible, therefore, that bidders that have tailored their projects to the flexible-generation requirement outlined in the tender could object legally to any retrospective change in the design.

Ramaokgopa also did not provide a breakdown of the cost implications for electricity consumers of running the GtP plants at higher load factors.

These will have to be released, however, as these costs will need to be recovered through the Eskom tariff while the prevailing tariff methodology remains in place.

Ramokgopa suggested that changes would be made to the electricity pricing policy, which could have implications for the methodology.

However, he also indicated that the new policy would place an emphasis on affordability.

Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses a major tariff review initiated by the International Trade Commission of South Africa for inputs used in solar, wind and battery storage facilities at a time when there is broader reconsideration of trade and industrial policy in

A tariff review by the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (Itac) of input materials and components used in wind, solar PV and battery storage facilities could have far-reaching implications for the renewables sector and electricity consumers.

In a Gazette notice, Itac indicates that it will review 82 tariff codes for inputs and materials used in the renewables and storage value chains, including everything from solar panels and generators for wind turbines, to lithium-ion batteries, aluminium and steel structures and even screws, bolts and nuts used in renewables installations.

Itac argues that global decarbonisation commitments represent an opportunity for the local production of renewables and battery products and that, by improving the tariff structure, demand for locally produced components could be increased, while the competitiveness of the local renewables value chain could be enhanced.

The Gazette containing General Notice 3142 of 2025 was published on April 17 and Itac has provided a four-week comment period.

It has requested feedback on the possibility of increasing tariffs on the listed products to their World Trade Organisation (WTO) bound rates - the highest duty that can be legally implemented by a WTO member - should there be capacity to produce these locally, as well as the prospect of introducing or removing rebate provisions.

Itac is also seeking stakeholder comment on the potential removal of the prevailing rebate on the import of solar panels, as well as on new local-content provisions.

In addition, it wants input regarding the possible relaxation of import controls on critical minerals used to produce storage products to assess whether this could incentivise local manufacture, as well as whether export controls on critical minerals could improve security of supply, especially for battery storage technologies.

The review follows the recent approval by Cabinet of the South African Renewable Energy Masterplan, or Sarem, which outlines the approach government plans to take to stimulate industrial and skills development in the renewable-energy and battery storage sectors.

Besides the manufacturing of key technologies and systems used in the two sectors, Sarem also aims to increase local content in the delivery of the balance of plant, including civil engineering and electrical works, as well as the local beneficiation of minerals used to produce renewables and storage components and products.

One of Sarem's core pillars, however, relates to supporting demand to create the market certainty required for manufacturing investment, with the stop-start nature of public procurement in the past having emerged as a key constraint, and a major reason for the failure of wind and solar-related manufacturing plants.

XA Global Trade Advisors CEO Donald MacKay says the tariff review forms part of a broader process under way to localise and transform the renewables value chain, listing the other components as including: moves to increase local content requirements; the possible introduction of subsidies and tax incentives for investors; and the creation of a Transformation Fund to support black economic empowerment of the value chain.

He says tariff increases and/or the removal of rebates would have significant implications, with the solar panel rebate having saved importers R344-million in duty payments over the past 12 months. These savings could have been R610-million on imports worth R6.3-billion but there had been only a 55% utilisation rate.

In the unlikely scenario that duties are increased across all 82 tariff codes to their WTO bound rates, there would be a potential duty increase of R7.2-billion, compared with current duties of R37-million, MacKay calculates.

CALL FOR 'EXTENSIVE CONSULTATION'

The South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA), which has participated in the Sarem drafting process, has acknowledged the initiation of the review and also stresses its support for government's ...

Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau has again insisted that no new demands will be imposed on business and industry because of the establishment of the R100-billion Transformation Fund, which government believes will help improve the effectiveness of broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) spending.

The proposed fund will seek to aggregate the funding that JSE-listed groups, State-owned enterprises and unlisted private companies spend collectively on enterprise and supplier development (ESD), as well as some of the funding multinationals direct towards equity equivalent schemes to secure their BBBEE compliance, without selling shares in their companies.

A concept document for the fund is currently out for public comment, with the submission deadline having recently been extended from May 7 to May 28.

The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) estimates that some R20-billion a year could be mobilized over the coming five years to help capitalise the fund; an estimate calculated using an historical analysis of ESD spending by companies monitored by the BBBEE Commission.

This funding, the department says, could be supplemented by donors, impact investors and some government "seed funding". No breakdown has yet been provided as to the precise contributions from each potential funding source.

Tau also stressed during a briefing in Johannesburg that participation in the fund would be entirely voluntary and that government also had no intention of interfering with companies that were implementing successful ESD initiatives of their own.

"The BBBEE Commission report suggests that there are significant areas that require us to work with business, and we're not going to come wielding a big stick … rather, we are saying: 'Let's have a process of collaboration that says, we have all not done well so far, let us work together to improve".

Tau added that the commission's analysis was pointing to a reality whereby much of the ESD spending under way was not as "impactful" as it could be and that a large portion was also being directed towards "side-stream activities" rather than activities that were core to the business of companies being monitored.

This, he argued, was reducing effectiveness of their ESD investments, while undermining the long-term sustainability of the beneficiary enterprises, as they had no direct link to the upstream or downstream activities of the company providing the support.

CORRUPTION CONCERNS

The dtic is proposing that the fund be established in partnership with the private sector and that a special purpose vehicle (SPV), with its own board and executive, be given responsibility for governance and the day-to-day running of the fund, which would include the National Empowerment Fund as an anchor member.

Tau argued that such an SPV was necessary to ensure that the fund was established in partnership with the private sector, which he said could then assist in introducing the expertise, systems and processes that financial institutions use to reduce subjectivity in decision-making.

Such systems, he added, would also be important in building guardrails against corruption, which opponents to the Transformation Fund have flighted as a major risk.

Newy appointed dtic director-general Simphiwe Hamilton said the department was acutely aware of the potential for corruption.

"It is a genuine concern, but we believe that the structuring that will be done in this regard will mitigate against any possibility of malfeasance, and it's good that we start with that lens right from the beginning," Hamilton said.

Besides reporting to the BBBEE Commission, the Transformation Fund would also undertake to make regular reports to Parliament to improve transparency.

An effort would also be made to align funding with sectors that government had identified as key to industrial development and employment creation, including renewable energy, mining, agro-processing, information and communication technology...

Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses the changes in the local wind sector in recent years, the local and global outlook for the wind sector and the targets set by the newly separated Department of Electricity and Energy.

The newly separated Department of Electricity and Energy (DEE) has outlined its vision and mission to lawmakers, listing among its priorities for the coming five years the procurement of 20 GW of new renewables capacity and the addition of 5 044 km of new powerlines.

The department previously operated under the umbrella of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, but from April 1 began operating separately from the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, in line with President Cyril Ramaphosa's 2024 proclamation to again separate the two departments.

The DEE has taken up offices at Matimba House, on Visagie Street in Pretoria, where a previous version of the Department of Energy was headquartered before being merged with the mineral resources department, and Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa announced recently that Subesh Pillay had been appointed as acting director-general.

In a presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Electricity and Energy on April 23, the department announced that its aim was to increase the installed base of renewables from 11 GW currently to 33 GW by 2030 and raise local content in these projects to 60% by that date.

In addition, it intended to expedite the Transmission Development Plan, by introducing private Independent Transmission Projects in support of the National Transmission Company South Africa's own efforts; in the process raising private-sector investment in energy infrastructure from R80-billion to R400-billion by the end of the decade.

It is also aiming to facilitate the creation of 200 000 new energy sector jobs aligned to the country's just energy transition, increase the proportion of electricity generated by independent power producers from 14% currently to 40%, and shepherd in 500 000 t of green-hydrogen capacity.

Project approval systems should also be streamlined to reduce licensing and permitting turnaround times for new electricity projects from 24 to 6 months and South Africa should rank in the top 10 globally for clean energy investment.

By the end of the decade, the DEE says yearly loadshedding days should be zero, there should be a market code in place for electricity trading, alongside a fully operational wholesale electricity market, and the proportion of electricity traded within the Southern African Power Pool should rise to 15% from 5%.

To guide the procurement of new generation, the DEE intended finalising a new Integrated Resource Plan, which it dubs IRP2025, as a replacement to the prevailing IRP2019.

A draft version is currently being discussed by the social partners at the National Economic Development and Labour Council before being presented to Cabinet for its approval.

The department is aiming for the IRP2025 to be "fully implemented" by 2030. Likewise, it intends to fully implement a Gas masterplan, which is currently still in draft form.

Internally, the DEE intends to have 100% of its core business functions digitalised by 2030, improve gender and age-group representation across its employee base, sustain a clean audit and ensure that all the State-owned entities in its orbit do likewise.

The department has shareholder responsibility for Eskom, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, the National Nuclear Regulator, the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation, the National Radioactive Waste Disposal Institute and the South African National Energy Development Institute.

The DEE has a yearly budget of more than R6-billion, more than R4-billion of which is directed to Eskom and municipalities in support for the Integrated National Electrification Programme.

The growing role of the private offtaker market in stimulating the South African wind sector has been highlighted in the latest 'Global Wind Report', which has been released by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).

In a section on South Africa, authored by the South African Wind Energy Association, the report notes that at least 15 private offtake projects totalling 1 943 MW have been announced following the market reforms of 2022 enabling renewables projects of any size to proceed without a licence.

These projects, the report states, are either under construction or will begin later this year.

"The first private offtake wind project to deliver power through the national grid was the 69 MW Msenge Emoyeni Wind Farm, completed in October 2024, which supplies power from the Eastern Cape to a petrochemical's producer in the Free State."

The report notes that most private offtakers are in the mining and petrochemical industries, which are contracting for renewable electricity as part of efforts to decarbonise their operations.

However, it also notes that several wind projects have signed agreements with traders and aggregators, signalling the arrival of the power trading market, as well as a geographical diversification outside of the traditional wind heartlands of the Eastern, Western and Northern Cape provinces, to include Mpumalanga.

"Mpumalanga has long been the heart of South Africa's coal power generation, hosting the majority of Eskom's coal-fired power stations.

"The construction of Ummbila Emoyeni, the province's first wind farm, signals a significant shift towards renewable energy," the report notes.

The move to the private offtake market had arisen as South Africa's public procurement programme, which had dominated the initial phase of wind deployments, faced difficulties.

A total of 4 287 MW of wind energy had been procured under government's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) since 2011, with 3 344 MW already operational.

However, the last successful bid window for wind was in 2021, when projects with a combined capacity of 1 608 MW advanced to the preferred bidder stage, and only 784 MW proceeded to construction, owing to Covid-linked supply-chain pressures and cost increases.

Subsequent bid windows for wind have failed, owing to insufficient grid capacity and a lack of clarity on curtailment rules, but the GWEC report states that the new Department of Electricity and Energy intends introducing reforms to restore the success of the public procurement model.

The project pipeline, the report notes, stands at 53 GW of wind and wind-hybrid projects, of which 33 GW could potentially be built by 2030, while the draft IRP2024, which is currently still under consideration, indicates that between 69 GW and 76 GW of wind energy will be needed between 2031 and 2050.

However, grid connection capacity is held up as a major obstacle to accelerating wind energy deployments, with government proposing to supplement the build programme under way by the National Transmission Company South Africa with private independent transmission projects.

"In the short term, the wind energy industry awaits the revised IRP2024, which will provide direction for new electricity infrastructure over the next two decades and help restore investor confidence.

"The government is also planning to reform and restructure the REIPPPP to address current challenges, accelerate renewable energy procurement, and align with ongoing power sector reforms," the report states.

TARIFF HEADWINDS

South Africa's difficulties with auctions, grid capacity and supply chains are also key global themes in the 2025 report, despite record wind installations of 117 GW in 2024, raising total installed capacity globally to 1 136 GW.

GWEC is also still forecasting that another 138 GW will be installed this year, as well as a compound average growth rate of 8.8% to 2030, which would translate to another 981 GW of wind energy capacity across ...

A new survey of 1 477 business executives from 15 countries, including South Africa, indicates that corporates now overwhelmingly view the transition from fossil fuels to renewable electricity as key to their future competitiveness, as well as a driver of investment decision-making.

Commissioned by E3G, Beyond Fossil Fuels and We Mean Business Coalition, and conducted by research and advisory company Savanta, the poll also highlights that countries risk losing investment and jobs should their government's fail to outline policies that signal their intention to transition to renewables.

Titled 'Powering up: Business perspectives on shifting to renewable electricity', half of respondents even indicated that they would relocate their operations and supply chains to markets with better access to renewables-based power systems within five years.

Presenting the findings during a webinar, We Mean Business Coalition director Molly Walton reported that 97% of executives from medium and large companies supported moving away from coal and other fossil fuels, while 78% of respondents supported a shift to a renewables-based electricity system by 2035 or sooner.

Energy security emerged as an important driver, with 75% of the executives polled associating renewables with improved energy security.

A total of 77% of respondents also linked renewables to economic growth, while 75% see renewables as key to job creation.

"More than two-fifths of mid-sized and large businesses plan to transition away from using coal within their own operations by 2030, with over one-quarter intending to follow suit by 2035," Walton stated.

Eighty-seven per cent of business executives surveyed want their governments to prioritise investments in renewables and to stop using coal-fired electricity within the next decade, while 67% want coal phased out and replaced with renewables, grids and storage rather than investments in new gas infrastructure.

Of the 104 South African senior executives polled, 80% indicated that they would prefer government to prioritise renewable electricity investments over new fossil-fuel financing.

A total of 95% of these South African executives thought government should transition away from fossil fuels to a renewables-based electricity system, with 80% indicating that this should be done within the coming ten years.

Speaking during the launch, National Business Initiative CEO Shameela Soobramony indicated that many South African firms were also currently concerned about the fact that they could be negatively affected by carbon border adjustment mechanisms (CBAM), owing to the country's ongoing dependence on coal.

She said the recent increase in tariffs by the US had highlighted the threat that import restrictions posed to a small, trading economy; a risk that could be compounded by the introduction of CBAM measures by some of South Africa's key trading partners.

The cost competitiveness of renewable technologies such as wind and solar PV, and South Africa's favourable wind and solar resources, presented an opportunity, but there was a need for greater policy coherence to stimulate the investments required to unlock that opportunity.

South Africa's high levels of unemployment and inequality also meant that social justice policies and actions would need to accompany the country's transition from coal to renewables.