Privatising Eskom infrastructure will boost generation capacity: Ramokgopa

JOHANNESBURG - The electricity ministry says its plan to privatise part of Eskom’s infrastructure will add over 3,000 megawatts of generation capacity to the grid.  

Earlier on Tuesday, Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa presented a detailed strategy to stabilise the country’s fragile grid and drive economic growth.  

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The R440 billion project, spanning a decade, will introduce independent transmission providers to procure and build 14,000 kilometres of power lines and hundreds of transformers.  

Eskom’s current infrastructure upgrades aim to add 2,500 megawatts to the grid, with 800 already online following the return of Kusile.  

But the new plan expands, adding over 3,200 megawatts, equivalent to 63% of Medupi and Kusile’s output, while creating jobs for both blue-collar workers and highly skilled engineers.  

Ramokgopa said the final phase will deliver transformers with significant capacity.  

“The total package of transformers is about 2,630 MVA [megavolt-amperes] of new transformers.”  

The minister confirms that official regulations will be gazetted on Thursday, kickstarting the process of securing private partners.  

The project deadline is August 2029.