With several new renewables and battery storage projects under construction or being advanced to financial close, 2025 is poised to be a significant year in Mulilo’s ongoing transition from an entrepreneurial developer, which took minority stakes in projects, to a leading South African integrated independent power producer (IPP). Towards the tail-end of last year, the Cape Town-headquartered company was awarded five projects during the second bid window of South Africa’s battery storage procurement programme, as well as a 240 MW solar PV project under South Africa’s seventh renewables bid window. Earlier, it concluded a private power purchase agreement (PPA) with Air Products South Africa for a 75 MW solar PV project in the Northern Cape.
Eskom group executive for generation Bheki Nxumalo says the utility is focussed on ensuring that South Africa achieves a full year without loadshedding at midnight on March 26, after the 300-day milestone was breached on January 21 – one that was last achieved in June 2018. Nxumalo, who has been leading the Generation Recovery Plan since March 2023 that is credited for facilitating a reduction in unplanned breakdowns, attributed the turnaround to Eskom’s 40 000 employees.
Global natural gas markets reached an all-time high last year and are set to remain tight in 2025 despite an ongoing rebalancing following the supply shock of 2022/23, the International Energy Agency (IEA) states. In 2024, global gas demand rose by 2.8%, or 115-billion cubic metres, which was well above the 2% average growth rate between 2010 and 2020. At the same time, below-average growth in liquefied natural gas (LNG) output kept supply tight, while extreme weather events added to market strains.