Optipower transaction bolsters Kulani Energy transmission EPC capacity

Black women-owned engineering and energy infrastructure firm Kulani Energy has acquired key assets from Optipower that historically operated as a division of Murray & Roberts Limited, which is in business rescue. Optipower is one of the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors approved on Eskom’s Panel A, supporting the National Transmission Company South Africa’s planned roll-out of more than 14 000 km of transmission lines.
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With demand 98% covered, Eskom can now turn its focus to pricing models – Marokane

Eskom has arrived at a position where it can turn its attention to determining the appropriate pricing in support of the various sectors of the economy – especially vulnerable sectors, says Eskom group CEO Dan Marokane. Participating in a panel on ‘Progress through private sector partnerships’ at the Investing in African Mining Indaba 2026 in Cape Town this week, the power utility boss said the percentage of time Eskom was able to meet demand from a supply perspective stood at 9% just over two years ago.
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Landmark private solar-battery hybrid project aims to enter into operation in 2028

A large-scale hybrid solar and battery project, underpinned by a landmark 25-year private power purchase agreement (PPA) with Sasol and Air Liquide, has achieved financial close and is targeting to enter into commercial operation in 2028. The Naos-1 hybrid solar and battery project will be built on a site near Viljoenskroon, in the Free State, by the SOLA Group.
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Operation Vulindlela represents incomplete reforms until lived experiences improve – Bernstein

While South Africa has made progress since forming the Government of National Unity (GNU) in 2024, particularly in electricity and logistics reform, these incomplete achievements fall short of building the deep credibility needed to convince investors and businesses that the future will be meaningfully better, says public policy think tank Centre for Development and Enterprise executive director Ann Bernstein. There are some areas of progress and the GNU deserves credit, but the question is not whether some things are better than they were, but whether the country genuinely believes it is on a trajectory that will lift investment, growth and employment; none of which has improved meaningfully.
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Discovery Green sees trader‑led wheeling becoming dominant commercial model in 2026

The head of Discovery Green, the renewable-energy trading unit of JSE-listed Discovery, is forecasting that trader‑led wheeling will become the dominant commercial model in the South African electricity market in 2026. In a wide-ranging statement, Discovery Green CEO Andre Nepgen highlights that the wheeling framework has matured and that the market is, thus, poised to move beyond one‑to‑one bilateral agreements and toward more aggregated solutions.
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Policy certainty and open access critical for transmission investment — ENGIE

South Africa’s electricity transmission grid is emerging as a central pillar of the country’s energy reform and decarbonisation drive, with global energy group ENGIE positioning itself as a potential long-term partner in grid expansion, flexibility solutions and market development. Speaking during a recent webinar on investing in South Africa’s electricity transmission grid, ENGIE South Africa’s MD for Renewables and Batteries Sanjeev Mungroo said the country’s reform trajectory broadly aligns with international best practice, particularly in the move from a vertically integrated monopoly model towards a more competitive, unbundled electricity sector.
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Nordex supplying 33 wind turbines to private projects in Western Cape

Wind turbine technology provider Nordex Energy South Africa (NESA) is supplying 33 wind turbines to the Zen and Bergriver wind projects, in the Western Cape, which will have a combined capacity of 194 MW. The projects are majority owned by ACCIONA Energía, with H1 Capital and Chariot Limited owning the 49% balance.
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Nersa says Eskom can increase charges more than previously approved

South Africa’s energy regulator said on Sunday that it granted State utility Eskom larger electricity rate increases for its next two financial years than originally set after admitting errors in its earlier calculations. Eskom’s prices will now rise 8.76% in April this year and 8.83% in April 2027 instead of 5.36% and 6.19%, regulator Nersa said in a statement.
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Electricity demand to grow to 2030, while 2 500 GW of projects are stalled

Global power demand is set to grow by 3.6% a year on average over the rest of this decade, with electricity generation from renewables, natural gas and nuclear all expanding to keep pace, says international organisation the International Energy Agency (IEA). Yearly demand growth over the next five years is set to be 50% higher on average compared with the average across the previous decade. This is the first time in three decades, excluding periods of crisis‑related disruption, that global electricity demand has outpaced economic growth in what is set to become a broader trend in the coming years.
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Cape Town goes private to boost electricity and water supply

Cape Town will call for tenders to implement several major projects that aim at cutting electricity costs and bolstering water security in South Africa’s second-biggest city and main tourist hub. The municipality will this month begin the process of engaging an electricity trading company to provide it with additional power, Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said. Later in the year, it will ask private companies to bid on multibillion-rand desalination and water re-usage plants, he added.
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