Watch the video: Minister of Electricity and Energy briefs media on the state of electricity grid
- Minister of Electricity and Energy, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, has assured South Africans that Eskom is “moving in the right direction” to dismantling the load shedding challenge.
- The Minister was speaking during a media briefing yesterday to update the nation on the state of the electricity grid.
“We are in a good space. We are moving in the right direction. We made the promise that we are going to address this situation and we made the promise that we are confident of our technical ability to resolve what many thought was an intractable challenge. We are within that touching distance,” Ramokgopa said.
The Minister said Eskom does not “expect any major surprises in relation to the performance of the grid” for the remainder of the winter and the subsequent transition to the warmer months.
Link to the lates Eskom update on the state of the system HERE
“Of course, this is a dynamic system. These are rotating units and there could be challenges here and there. However, the grid is designed in such a manner where we can call upon the peaking plants to help us to sustain the performance of the grid without relying on load shedding. “[The peaking plants] are a card we have when are in major challenges… to keep the lights on,” he said.
The Minister noted that during some periods, Eskom has been generating more electricity than is demanded.
“There are periods during the week… where we have to put machines in cold reserve, meaning… we are generating more than what the demand is and to protect the grid, we must pull back some of the machines.
“That says… we have now created sufficient space and headroom for the economy to grow on the back of this performance. We are marching and we are going to get out of the woods,” Ramokgopa said.
Issue of NERSA issuing trading licences to private energy traders
On the issue of Eskom’s court application opposing the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (NERSA) decision to issue five new electricity trading licences, Ramokgopa said that he was not in favour of it and has advised Eskom against it as it would only ‘muddy the waters’.
In a filing to the High Court, Gauteng Division, Pretoria, on 24 July 2025, Eskom alleges that NERSA’s decision threatens to upend the entire landscape of electricity provision in South Africa. Eskom argues that trading licences were approved without the necessary trading rules for the industry being developed, a point acknowledged by the Regulator members during their deliberations. “The decision by the Regulator, according to Eskom, infringes upon and breaches NERSA’s own rules and the licences issued to Eskom by NERSA” said Eskom in a statement.
“Eskom disagrees with this decision and has instructed its attorneys to initiate legal proceedings in the High Court. Eskom, like all other participants in the electricity industry, operates based on established rules and subscribes to a rule-based transition. However, this adherence to the rules has been misinterpreted as anti-competitive behaviour, which Eskom firmly denies,” the utility adds.
Ramokgopa said 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.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
