Trader-led wheeling to play big role S Africa’s renewable power market in 2026

South Africa’s renewable-energy market is entering a decisive new phase in 2026, shaped by electricity reform, tightening grid capacity and changing project economics — with trader-led wheeling models rapidly emerging as the principal commercial structure for large power users. This is the view of Discovery Green CEO Andre Nepgen, who highlights that procurement strategy is now as important as price in securing long-term energy resilience. “Electricity reform is moving from policy design into practical implementation, bringing clearer governance structures and participation rules,” he notes.
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NUM calls for urgent talks with Necom on Eskom unbundling following SoNA directive

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has called for urgent and structured consultations between organised labour and the National Energy Crisis Committee (Necom) task team that is deliberating on the transfer of Eskom’s transmission assets to an independent Transmission System Operator (TSO). In his State of the Nation Address (SoNA), President Cyril Ramaphosa gave the task team three months to report back to him on the restructuring process, including clear time frames for its phased implementation.
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Report labels unbundling of Eskom as ‘most important economic reform since 1994′

A new report commissioned by the South African Energy Traders Association (SAETA) identifies the unbundling of Eskom Holdings as the most important economic reform since 1994, arguing that a new competitive electricity sector construct is required to attract the capital needed to deliver security of supply and affordability. Titled ‘Policy to power: 10 actions to deliver green, accessible and secure electricity’ the SAETA report has been produced by research and consulting firm Krutham. SAETA itself represents electricity traders and its members include Africa GreenCo, Apollo, Discovery Green, Enpower Trading, Envusa, Etana, EXSA, Investec, Lyra Energy, Mainstream, NOA, POWERX and Sturdee Energy.
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Blu Label subsidiary granted energy trading licence

Renewable energy company BluEnergy Trading – a subsidiary of JSE-listed Blu Label Unlimited – has been granted a multi-year energy trading licence by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa. BluEnergy will focus on aggressively building out its project pipeline, operationalising trading activities in line with its mandate to support South Africa’s transition to a more resilient, decentralised and sustainable power system.
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Lyra Energy signs private offtaker agreements for inaugural 255 MW solar PV project

Electricity trader Lyra Energy reports that it has entered into power purchase agreements with three private offtakers that will buy a large portion of the electricity to be produced from its 255 MW Thakadu solar PV project. The Thakadu project is the first project to be implemented in South Africa by Lyra, which is a partnership between independent power producer Scatec, which owns 50% of the trading platform, as well as Standard Bank and Stanlib.
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Opinion: Does South Africa have a future without power cuts? Ramaphosa intervenes, but the …

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, in his 2026 State of the Nation address, announced that the country’s electricity transmission assets would move out of State-owned Eskom. This will happen once the newly established National Transmission Company of South Africa is unbundled into a fully independent company. This is not the first time Ramaphosa has used his State of the Nation address to keep South Africa’s electricity reforms on track. In 2021, he raised the cap on private power generation from 1MW to 100MW. Minister Gwede Mantashe at the time admitted that the president had “twisted his arm”.
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Eskom will ‘fully support task team’ to deliver independent TSO

Eskom says it will fully support the task team being created to deliver the fully independent State-owned Transmission System Operator (TSO) that will have ownership and control of transmission assets and be responsible for operating the electricity market. Eskom made the statement in response to a directive in relation to the transfer of assets to the TSO made by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his State of the Nation Address (SoNA) on February 12.
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KAHRE plans $50bn to $150bn net-zero industrial corridor in South Africa

Renewable energy company KAHRE Renewable Energy Group has announced plans for South Africa’s first fully integrated net-zero industrial corridor, linking large-scale renewable energy generation in the Northern Cape with green industrial processing, logistics and export infrastructure in the Western Cape. The corridor is designed to attract between $50-billion and $150-billion in long-term investment and to position South Africa as a globally competitive location for green hydrogen and derivative industries, including ammonia, e-methanol and sustainable aviation fuels.
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Upcoming launch of electricity market seen as key step towards competition

Various organisations in the electricity sector are anticipating the start of the South African Wholesale Electricity Market (SAWEM) this year as a step towards phasing in a liberalised market, in which various participants will provide services – from generation, transmission, distribution, aggregation and sales to balancing and peaking services. The objective is “to move from a sector in reform to a sector that is reformed, functional and thriving”, according to law firm TGR Attorneys director Masedi Tlhong.
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Eskom says it may take trading rules on legal review, as it calls for material changes

Eskom has raised a slew of legal and technical issues with the draft trading rules being considered for approval by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) and has indicated that it is ready to take legal action should the rules not be amended. This new threat of a legal challenge was made during Nersa hearings into the trading rules on February 12.
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