- In her first address to the Portfolio Committee on Electricity and Energy as interim head of South Africa’s Independent Power Producer Office (IPPO), Elsa Strydom, confirmed yesterday that her office will be managing the procurement of new transmission infrastructure under the country’s Independent Transmission Programme (ITP).
- South Africa’s Minister of Electricity and Energy, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, recently invited comments on the Draft Electricity Transmission Infrastructure Regulations for the ITP. Read more
- The programme aims to have 3222MW new transmission capacity in place by August 2029.
- A Request for Qualification will be issued in July by the IPP Office while a Request for Proposals will be issued in November.
Ramokgopa kick-started the programme by issuing a Ministerial Determination under Section 34 of the Electricity Regulation Act on 28th March 2025 to procure an initial 1164km of 400kV transmission infrastructure covering three provinces which includes 2 630 MVA of transformer capacity. Read more
“Our renewable energy assets are not fully exploited because of the constraints on the transmission side. The Eskom balance sheet and the sovereign balance sheet is not sufficient to carry the kind of investments that are required in this space. In terms of the transmission development plan…we will need modernise and expand transmission by about 14 000km and for us to be able to do this, we need about R440 billion. The State is not able to provide that kind of support. This is why we are introducing the independent transmission programme,” Ramokgopa said.
The draft regulations outline terms guiding the transmission service agreements between prospective independent transmission service providers and the off-taker, the National Transmission Company South Africa, which includes proposed cost recovery criteria for buyer and seller.
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Ramokgopa further seeks comment on the establishment of fully integrated ‘energy infrastructure projects’ arguing that it would be advantageous to the Government for the required new generation capacity, electricity transmission infrastructure and other interconnected or related infrastructure and other matters contemplated in section 34(12) of the Act to be combined into an energy infrastructure project.
Link to the full request for comments on the Draft Electricity Transmission Infrastructure Regulations HERE
Reporting to the Portfolio Committee, Strydom pointed out that the expansion and strengthening of the grid by the ITP would unlock the roll-out of future IPP programmes and further open capacity to accommodate private sector wheeling projects. But challenges remain. “There’s a need to streamline and align processes to aid in managing procurement timelines,” said Strydom pointing out that Eskom can take up to 120 days to process a cost estimate letter.
In related news, Ramokgopa will announce the selection of Preferred Bidders under the BESIPPPP Bid Window 3 on Friday, 30 May 2025. Read more
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
