South Africa is moving to add major new flexible power capacity, with Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa signing a ministerial determination to procure thousands of megawatts of battery storage and gas-fired generation.
The determination covers 4,600 megawatts of battery energy storage and 5,000 megawatts of gas-to-power plants under the country's Integrated Resource Plan 2025. It is one of the largest procurement signals the government has sent since the end of the worst load-shedding years.
The move is aimed squarely at a structural imbalance: Eskom currently sits on a daytime generation surplus of roughly 5,000 to 7,000 megawatts, while expensive curtailment of independent power producers leaves consumers footing the bill. Storage would let that surplus power be shifted into the evening peak instead of going to waste.
The South African Energy Storage Association welcomed the announcement, calling it the right decision at the right time. The procurement rounds that follow will test whether private developers can deliver at the scale and speed the grid plan demands.
