Flexibility key to grid’s future

South Africa’s power grid is entering a high-risk phase as the rapid rise of rooftop solar and renewable energy is starting to outpace the system’s original design capacity. The  transition to cleaner energy is no longer just an opportunity but also represents a technical balancing act that could determine grid stability in the years ahead, highlights global energy technology company Schneider Electric Middle East and Africa power and grid segment VP Taru Madangombe.
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Innovation, reform key to stabilising system

The adoption of smart grid technologies is crucial for the future of South Africa’s power grid and its efficiency. Intelligence is key and smart grids are an enabler of intelligence, highlights University of Pretoria Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering Department head Professor Raj Naidoo. A significant portion of the country’s transmission and distribution losses arise from undetected faults, unmetered consumption, ageing assets operating beyond their design envelope and the absence of real-time situational awareness.
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Microgrids emerge as fastest route to energy access

Decentralised microgrids are proving critical to accelerating electrification, easing energy constraints and improving resilience across South Africa, highlights South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI) renewable energy manager Dr Karen Surridge. Microgrids are increasingly being positioned as a core component of the solution to the country’s energy access challenges, particularly in remote, underserved and fast-growing areas where conventional infrastructure struggles to keep pace. Surridge stressed that decentralised systems are not only expedient but also a necessary complement to broader electrification efforts.
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Tougher stance against substandard imports needed

South Africa’s cable industry has the capacity and expertise to support grid optimisation, but only if it is protected against substandard imports that are undermining the safety and performance of industrial, domestic and renewable-energy installations, notes wire and electric cable manufacturer South Ocean Electric Wire (SOEW) CEO Andre Smith. He says the grid faces growing demand from renewable-energy integration, industrial recovery and electrification goals, with utilities, such as State-owned power utility Eskom and municipalities, increasingly relying on innovative reconductoring and uprating solutions to unlock additional capacity on existing corridors without lengthy environmental approvals or new tower construction.
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Transmission bottleneck demands urgent national focus

South Africa’s electricity reform momentum risks stalling unless transmission infrastructure is urgently expanded, with grid capacity, rather than generation investment, now the primary constraint to unlocking private investments and ensuring energy security, says renewable-energy company Discovery Green executive director and actuarial research head Dan Ginsberg. He argues that, in addition to continued policy reform, the immediate priority should be focused on the physical power grid build-out at scale. South Africa’s energy transition is increasingly shaped by a structural imbalance, with strong private-sector appetite to build generation capacity, but insufficient transmission capacity to connect new projects.
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