- New Project Management Office at the IPP Office will oversee implementation of the South African Renewable Energy Masterplan.
- Government targets development of local renewable energy and battery storage value chains and up to 25,000 jobs by 2030.
- Industry stakeholders raise concerns that staged consignment concessions could undermine localisation objectives.
South Africa has established a dedicated Project Management Office to accelerate the implementation of the South African Renewable Energy Masterplan, a flagship policy initiative aimed at expanding the country’s renewable energy and battery storage industries.
The new office is housed within the Independent Power Producers Office in Centurion, Pretoria, and is mandated to drive the industrialisation strategy linked to renewable energy and battery storage value chains. A central focus of the work will be localisation, domestic market development and the growth of local manufacturing capacity.
Government has indicated that the Project Management Office will support the development of sustainable renewable energy and energy storage value chains, facilitate technology transfer, strengthen skills development, and promote enterprise development and transformation across the sector. The initiative is expected to play a significant role in job creation, with estimates suggesting that as many as 25,000 jobs could be supported by 2030.
The initiative has also attracted international support. The European Union has expressed its willingness to provide technical assistance to the Project Management Office where required, reinforcing global backing for South Africa’s energy transition and industrial development ambitions.
From a governance perspective, the Project Management Office will report to an Executive Oversight Committee comprising representatives from the Department of Electricity and Energy, the Department of Small Business Development, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, and the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation.
The establishment of the Project Management Office follows the recent release of the Renewable Energy Masterplan, commissioned by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition with support from GreenCape and other stakeholders. The Masterplan forms part of the department’s reimagined industrial strategy and seeks to replicate elements of the successful automotive sector model by aligning public and private sector efforts through structured sector planning processes.
The Masterplan was developed through collaboration between industry, labour and government, with GreenCape acting as secretariat and managing research, consultation and drafting. According to the document, structured engagements were held through an industry working group, supported by an industry reference group that provided technical input and validation throughout the process.
Staged consignments
However, industry participants have noted that the Masterplan does not address the issue of staged consignment concessions granted to independent power producers and engineering, procurement and construction companies. These concessions allow for the duty free importation of renewable energy and storage equipment and are believed to have been granted to most Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme projects since at least 2018.
Staged consignments are an internationally recognised trade facilitation mechanism that allows large capital projects to import equipment in phases aligned to construction timelines. In South Africa, they are permitted under existing customs legislation and apply to specific machinery and equipment categories, subject to approval by the South African Revenue Service. While SARS administers these approvals, industrial policy and trade incentives fall under the mandate of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition.
Renewable energy developers argue that staged consignments are essential to managing the scale, timing and complexity of large solar and wind projects. A single utility scale solar project can require the coordinated delivery of hundreds of shipping containers within a tight construction window, often relying on a limited number of global suppliers to meet performance warranties and delivery schedules. Imported components may also benefit from foreign export incentives, such as tax rebates, which reduce project costs.
Local industry stakeholders, however, contend that the widespread use of staged consignment concessions undermines the objectives of the Renewable Energy Masterplan. They argue that duty free imports weaken incentives for local manufacturing, contribute to job losses, and erode domestic industrial capability. Estimates suggest that the concessions have resulted in significant revenue losses for the fiscus, alongside reduced investment in local supply chains.
Concerns have also been raised about labour impacts. Blanket approvals for staged consignments may facilitate the use of foreign labour associated with imported equipment and specialised installation services, placing local companies and workers at a competitive disadvantage.
In addition, questions have been raised about compliance oversight. Industry sources indicate that there is limited verification of local content and labour commitments made by winning bidders under the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme, and there is no publicly available information on which projects have received staged consignment approvals.
As the Project Management Office begins work on implementing the Renewable Energy Masterplan, stakeholders across the value chain will be watching closely to see how policy alignment, trade incentives and compliance mechanisms are addressed to ensure that South Africa’s renewable energy build programme delivers on its industrialisation and job creation objectives.
Link to SARS Staged Consignment – External Policy document HERE
Link to the South African Renewable Energy Masterplan (SAREM) HERE
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
