Government says it’s pinning hopes on renewable energy to drastically cut South Africa’s high electricity costs.
This follows the official launch of ‘Eskom Green’, a new platform by the power utility dedicated entirely to clean energy.
It is set to house Eskom’s green energy business, with a mandate to rapidly accelerate the rollout of solar, wind, and green hydrogen technologies across the country.
Speaking at the launch, Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa cautioned that the rise of renewables does not spell the immediate end of traditional power generation.
South Africa’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) 2025 sets out a bold roadmap for the transformation of the country’s energy landscape, outlining a framework to develop the country’s renewable energy industry.
Eskom Group Executive for Renewables Rivoningo Mnisi says Eskom Green is a platform for this through a ring-fenced renewable energy subsidiary established to house the power utility’s green energy business and accelerate the deployment of clean technologies.
“Our objective is very simple. We deliver clean, competitive, reliable energy solution while supporting energy security, economic growth and decarbonization. Eskom is now able to rapidly accelerate the options available to South Africa’s industry, to decarbonize and transit in the industrial and productive capacity to maintain domestic and export competitiveness. We will make available up to 32 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2040. We’re looking at making sure that we deliver predictable energy affordable energy and increasingly energy that does not compromise reliability.”
Eskom looks to offer commercial and industrial customers the ability to source their electricity from the power utility’s renewable sources without needing to install their own plants or procure expensive Power Purchase Agreements.
Ramokgopa believes Eskom Green will ensure a sustainable power system that supports emission reductions without letting go of coal.
“It’s people that are affected by that. Even before I talk about the economy, we have lessons that we can learn from Komati, gross injustice that’s an example of a decision taken without due consideration of its overall impact. And just pursuing a narrow agenda of just removing and addressing the emissions without understanding, the totality of the impact, we are going to disabuse ourselves and take a much more orchestrated deliberate scientific data driven decision.”
He has sought to allay fears that this move will threaten the private sector, as he called for meaningful collaboration through a special people’s vehicle where investors and other players will become, in partnership with Eskom, part owners of the project.
The minister believes this will help bring the prices of electricity down in the long term.
“The profile of the various energies renewable energy sources when you pull them together, they can attend an approximate base load, technology will get us there but the working theory is the more you have renewable which are relatively cheaper. It will have an impact on the pricing and it’s going to arrest the exponential price of electricity.”
Eskom Green has roughly 14 gigawatts of renewable projects under development through special economic zones in Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the Western Cape.
Energy expert Ruse Moleshe says combining Eskom’s strengths with market partnerships will accelerate delivery and create a transition that is both sustainable and practical.
“Eskom is planning to leverage the existence of their power plant today and the availability of land within those premises of the power plant. There you already have grid infrastructure to connect to and you already have land, you already have environmental approvals. That means that they can leapfrog if they are quick in development to bring the projects in quicker. So, they see themselves as looking at partnerships rather than to go on their own and own an asset on their own. So, a special people’s vehicle will be created where investors where other players will come in partnership with SCOM as a part owner of the project.”
Eskom Green becomes the fourth entity in Eskom’s unbundling as processes around the NTCSA continue.
A dedicated platform for green energy capacity and renewables development with a target of 21 gigawatts of energy by 2035 and to contribute at national scale to South Africa’s clean energy future with the hope of all the efforts working to bring down the price of electricity in the short to long term.
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