How can South Africans boost electricity demand for country's economic growth?

SOUTH Africa faces several near-term challenges that will define its energy landscape up to 2030. Global demand growth has accelerated renewable energy development, but in South Africa, electricity demand has declined steadily since 2011. Ending load-shedding alone has not been enough to reverse this trend.

- THOMAS GARNER

The electricity system has now shifted into an oversupply phase. This is evidenced by high reserve margins, the cold storage of generation units, and the curtailment of photovoltaic generation during certain hours. At the same time, renewable energy projects continue to be built at pace and will likely continue until at least 2030.

Eskom’s electricity availability factor continues to improve, and no coal-fired power station decommissioning is planned before March 2030, after which closures may follow a phased approach.

The question is not how to add more generation capacity, but how to stimulate demand-side investment that can absorb the increasing supply and grow the economy.

Progress has been made through the Business Partnership with the government, an initiative led by the President to accelerate priority interventions under the 7th Administration.

The Joint Strategic Oversight Committee (JSOC) reports directly to the President every six to eight weeks, monitoring progress, providing strategic guidance, and addressing bottlenecks. The JSOC’s three workstreams — Energy, Transport and Logistics, and Crime and Corruption — are central to rebuilding confidence and stimulating demand-side investment.

To deliver meaningful results, these workstreams must progress in parallel. On the energy front, improvements in Eskom’s generation performance, support for private power generation, and efforts to strengthen and expand the transmission grid are positive steps. These actions address supply security, but sustained demand growth will depend on broader structural improvements.