Step towards grid expansion

PROJECTS: STATE INVITES PRIVATE SECTOR

- Antoinette Slabbert

More than a year after Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa held an investor conference about private sector participation in developing the South African electricity grid, a Request for Information (RFI) was published on Wednesday.

This is the first step towards procurement, which was envisaged to start in the first quarter of next year.

The closing date for the RFI is, however, only in February, which casts doubt on whether the timeline for the Request for Proposals (RFP) will be met.

The South African Independent Power Producer Association (Saippa) welcomed the RFI as a crucial first step to unlocking private capital towards expanding essential grid infrastructure.

Grid expansion and reconfiguration have become a top priority to enable the development of a myriad of renewable energy projects by government and private sector players.