Grid, renewable energy expansions should proceed in parallel

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21-05-2026
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Engineering News
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In South Africa, plans for the strengthening the country's electricity transmission grid and further increasing renewable energy generating capacity were not yet in alignment, JUWI Renewable Energy Deputy Head of Project Development South Africa Beth O'Connor has pointed out. She was addressing a session at the Enlit Africa 2026 Conference, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, on Thursday. (JUWI was a utility-scale provider in the renewables energy sector, undertaking project development, engineering and construction, and operations and maintenance, for projects with a capacity of 30 MW and upwards.)

She noted that the variability of renewable energy had impacts on the grid. Currently, the country's grid was constrained in the Eastern, Western and Northern Cape, Free State and North West provinces, and partly constrained in Limpopo provinces. These provinces included most of the country's renewable energy potential. 

A new wind farm took six to nine years to develop, she reported. The timeline for a new electricity substation was seven to nine years. These timelines had to be aligned. The country needed to integrate an extra 56 MW of mainly renewable generation capacity by 2034. 

The current transmission plan was two years old (it should be updated every year). There was quite a long way to go regarding the upgrade of the grid to handle the planned extra renewable generation capacity. There was a need to ensure the country didn't end up with new power plants with no grid access, nor a grid that had no electricity to transmit.

Grid uncertainly was creating project uncertainty, she highlighted. Renewable energy projects required financing. But would banks allow financial close without secure grid access? What if they insisted on waiting for such secure access? And how would banks define secure grid access -- a commitment by the National Transmission Company of South Africa (NTCSA), or the actual construction of the grid connection? 

An independent power producer couldn't sell its power without a grid connection. Currently, banks were reluctant to finance such projects until a grid connection was assured. This would delay projects.

The Department of Electricity and Energy would create confidence in future grid capacity through an integrated transmission expansion plan. Government was aware of this, and committed, in principle, to such a plan. But the issue now was making it happen. A lot of necessary policy documents still had to be released, meaning that policy guidance for the industry was lacking. 

So, she queried rhetorically, what should renewable energy developers do, in the absence of policy guidance? They should focus on projects close to demand (for example, to supply power to miners on the Northern Cape), support the Independent Transmission Projects plan, keep close track of what the NTCSA was doing (especially with regard to the implementation of the Transmission Development Plan), and engage with financial institutions and ascertain their requirements. 

The aim was to ensure that the construction of the grid and of renewable energy projects would proceed in parallel.