Grid capacity is the real energy crisis

R440bn is needed to modernise and expand the network

- Wayne Cowie

South Africa’s energy crisis is no longer only about building new generation.

We have 72GW of renewable energy projects at advanced stages of development and a 220GW pipeline but the national transmission grid cannot connect the power to the businesses and homes that need it.

Unless the transmission roll-out accelerates, private investment is crowded in and technologies like battery energy storage systems (Bess) and wheeling are scaled, South Africa risks stalling its energy transition, deepening its electricity and economic challenges.

Our aging grid is a national threat. The grid was built for a centralised coal system, not a decentralised renewable energy market. Decades of underfunded maintenance and limited capital expenditure mean it is no longer fit for purpose, particularly in high-potential renewable regions where transmission capacity is constrained, such as the Northern Cape and Western Cape regions.

Limited transmission capacity in key renewable regions is preventing new, cheaper power projects from connecting, leaving businesses and consumers paying rising Eskom tariffs that fail to reflect the falling cost of renewables, while expensive diesel peaking plants are dispatched in place of cheaper projects that can’t connect.