South Africa’s new grid company could be operational by mid-year if licence and lender …

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has hosted public hearings into an application by the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTC) for the three licences it requires to begin operating as an independent subsidiary of Eskom Holdings, in line with the unbundling “journey” first outlined by the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) in 2019. The vertical separation of the grid company from Eskom is seen as a crucial step for levelling the playing field between Eskom Generation and independent power producers (IPPs), as well as for ensuring that sufficient transmission assets are funded and built to facilitate new generation investment.