The Electricity Regulator has approved an application by Eskom to extend temporary tariff relief to ferrochrome producers Samancor Chrome and the Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture for a period of 12 months. Eskom made an application to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) to supply electricity to smelters owned by the two entities at a temporary tariff of 87c/kWh, instead of 135c/kWh.
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South Africa’s energy regulator on Thursday approved an application by Eskom to reduce electricity tariffs by 35% for two distressed ferrochrome operations battling high power costs. More than a dozen smelters have shut down in South Africa in recent years, leading to thousands of job losses, largely due to high electricity costs which have surged by more than 900% since 2008.
State-owned power utility Eskom this week unveiled a Climate Smart Horticulture Centre at the Grootvlei power station, marking a practical milestone in linking South Africa’s Just Energy Transition (JET) to new local economic opportunities in climate-smart food production and skills development. Together with the government of the Netherlands, and with support from Enterprising Africa Regional Network, Mpumalanga Green Cluster, Seed2Feed Foundation, Holland Green Tech, Ridder and other agricultural organisations, eight community members from the Dipaleseng municipality are being trained as greenhouse facilitators.
Even if only incremental steps are taken, South Africa must continue to progress its electricity market liberalisation and reform agenda, such as launching the South Africa Wholesale Electricity Market (SAWEM), even if only involving a few organisations. Further, while there were many competing challenges to be addressed to ensure progress, grid access was highlighted as a key element in the coming year by the experts who participated in the ‘South Africa’s Energy Outlook 2026 – Sustaining Reform Momentum’ webinar hosted by Creamer Media on January 28.
Amid growing concern over the affordability of electricity for businesses and households, the head of the energy secretariat at the South Africa National Energy Development Institute (Sanedi) has floated the idea of including electricity in the list of products zero-rated for value-added tax (VAT). Listing the price of electricity and load reduction as the two most pressing matters facing the electricity sector at the start of 2026, Sanedi’s Professor Sampson Mamphweli listed the prospect of a VAT zero-rating as one of several interventions to consider.
Implementing reforms in the electricity and logistics sectors to facilitate the establishment of “commercially viable, competitive markets in these network industries”, has been identified as a key priority for the next phase of the Government Business Partnership. In a statement published following a meeting of the partnership hosted in Pretoria by President Cyril Ramaphosa on January 27, it is stated that such markets would be “essential to mobilising the additional investment required for growth”.
Eskom has requested the energy regulator to approve an interim tariff of 87c/kWh in favour of Samancor Chrome and the Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture as a temporary measure to sustain smelter operations while talks continued in relation to a longer-term solution aimed at further reducing the tariff to 62c/kWh. The utility has also requested the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) to extend, by a further 12 months, waivers both companies secured last year in relation to take-or-pay obligations included in their negotiated pricing agreements (NPAs) with Eskom, which came into effect in 2024.
UK development finance institution British International Investment (BII) and financial services firm Alexforbes have each made a R500-million investment into renewable assets investment management firm Revego Africa Energy Fund. The funding will allow Revego to expand its portfolio of ten renewable-energy projects across South Africa and invest in new, high-quality renewable-energy assets that support South Africa’s energy transition.
A total of 332 generation and storage projects with a combined nameplate of 31.7 GW have either received budget quotes for grid connection in South Africa or have budget-quote applications pending for grid connection before 2030, a newly publicly available online portal shows. Of that, nearly 24 GW is made up of 204 advanced projects (mostly in the form of variable renewables projects) that are seeking to be connected to the grid over the coming five years.
Germany’s special envoy for the Just Energy Transition Partnership with South Africa Rainer Baake says his country’s ongoing commitment to the initiative is reflected by the fact that Germany has more than doubled its original financial commitment to €2.68-billion, from the initial 2021 pledge of €986-million. He also reported that more than €1.4-billion had already been disbursed under the programme, which is scheduled to run to 2027.
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