Minister of Electricity and Energy, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, has unveiled an ambitious plan aimed at ensuring energy security and mobilising private sector investments to revolutionise the country’s electricity transmission infrastructure.

Ramokgopa on Tuesday announced that the government will pursue private investment for the construction of transmission lines through the Independent Transmission Programme (ITP).

He said that the government was set to facilitate greater private involvement in building and managing transmission infrastructure following the recent amendments to the Electricity Regulation Act enacted by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The country needs to expand its existing electricity transmission by approximately 14 000 kilometres to realise the vision set forth in the National Development Plan (NDP.

Ramokgopa said the pilot programme for the ITP will identify specific transmission corridors across the country and pave the way to the construction of 1 164km of new transmission lines that are designed to support renewable energy projects.

“Our renewable energy assets are not fully exploited as a result of the constraints on the transmission side. The Eskom balance sheet and the sovereign balance sheet is not sufficient to carry the kind of investments that are required in this space,” Ramokgopa said.

“In terms of the transmission development plan, we will need to modernise and expand transmission by about 14 000km and for us to be able to do this, we need about R440 billion. The State is not in a position to provide that kind of support. So, today we are introducing the independent transmission programme.”

The ITP is projected to unlock a staggering 3 222MW of new generation capacity. This is about 63% of the total capacity of Medupi and Kusile power stations, facilitating greater access to solar and wind energy, particularly in the Northern Cape, which boasts some of the highest irradiation levels globally.

As part of these new measures, Ramokgopa said they have identified seven key corridors earmarked for development. The projects outlined include the construction of 400kV transmission lines, complemented by transformers and additional infrastructure.

He said procurement will be undertaken through a transparent and equitable bidding process, ensuring compliance with fair tendering procedures.

“The Ministry is the one mandated to procure and then the National Transmission Company of South Africa is the party that buys that. We are going to ensure that we procure the most cost-effective and tendering procedures that are fair, competitive and equitable,” Ramokgopa said.

“The requirement for the ITP pilot has to be consistent with the transmission development plan and it must also support the Integrated Resource Plan. It must be commercially viable.”

Regulations will be issued this Thursday while a Request for Qualification will be issued in July and a Request for Proposals will be issued in November.

This approach is designed to encourage private sector participation and alleviate the burden of securing necessary permits and licenses from those willing to invest.

“We need to foster an investment climate where the private sector can thrive. It is not enough to simply raise funds; we must ensure that the industry is ready to participate,” he said.

“For the South African economy to grow, we need to unshackle the issues of the structural constraints, which is electricity and the inefficiencies in the logistics side. The second is greater investment by the private sector. Electricity gives us a pristine opportunity to transform the economy [and] grow the economy,” he said.

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South Africa embarks on independent transmission programme to boost energy security