Gas BW1.5 (Richards Bay, Phakwe)
Following environmental authorisation approval by Minister Barbara Creecy in 2022 for the 2,000MW Phakwe gas power plant in Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone, two civil society groups, Groundwork and South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA), represented by the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), filed for judicial review.
read more >>Mozambique electricity imports
On 22 June 2023, the cabinet signed an agreement for Mozambique to supply South Africa with 100MW of electricity within three months of the power purchase agreement. Three months later, the Mozambican government said that it wanted answers from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration as to why there had been no movement from Eskom on the…
read more >>Integrated Resource Plan 2025
In an effort to update in the 2019 IRP, the former DMRE issued the draft IRP 2023 for public comment in January 2024. It is intended to act as a blueprint for the country’s future energy mix and in so doing, guide the country’s plans to generate new capacity to produce electricity. Following extensive input,…
read more >>New coal-fired electricity BW2
This coal bid window was supposed to procure 1,500MW from clean coal technologies, which could include capturing carbon emissions from burning coal and storing them underground, although there are numerous variations of what is termed clean coal. HALTED: We stopped tracking this issue at end-June 2025 as it was part of the IRP 2019, which…
read more >>New coal-fired electricity BW1
This reform did advance with bid winners announced in 2016, but has since been halted following legal and environmental opposition. In December 2020, the High Court in Pretoria set aside the environmental approval for the 1,200 MW Thabametsi coal-fired power station that would have been built in its first phase at 557MW outside Lephalale in…
read more >>Nuclear electricity plant BW
The government issued a gazette to withdraw the intention to procure 2,500MW nuclear power, stating that more public consultation is required before the official RFQ can be issued. We stopped tracking this issue at end-June 2025. The 2,500MW new nuclear build was abandoned when the DoEE minister withdrew the ministerial determination in 2024. The updated…
read more >>Gas electricity capacity BW2
The draft IRP 2023 allocates 7.2GW-8.6GW of gas-to-power capacity. The gas BW2 aims to procure 1,000MW of new production at site-specific plant at Coega. To date, the BW has not yet been launched.
read more >>Increase in planned Eskom maintenance
The suspension of load shedding in late March 2024 was a result of increased maintenance coupled with reduced demand, given the increase in private generation capacity as well as the high uptake of rooftop solar. Eskom conducted more planned maintenance on its power stations in 2024 than in the previous four years. It led to…
read more >>VGBE report recommendations implemented by Eskom
National Treasury commissioned an independent assessment of all Eskom coal-fired power facilities to better understand their operational problems. Having received the VGBE report in September 2023, the electricity minister issued a 10-point plan which was drawn from the VGBE report. Some of the recommendations overlap with interventions in the Generation Recovery Plan. However, Eskom believes…
read more >>REIPPPP BW5
Of the 25 preferred bidders appointed, two are currently operational and nine are under construction. Fourteen projects have not reached financial close and their preferred bidder status was terminated. The 25 appointed bidders totalled capacity of 2,583MW, close to target, but the 11 projects that reached financial close have capacity of 1,159MW. There was a…
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