South Africa sets critical electricity deadline for early 2025
National Treasury and the Department of Electricity and Energy have launched their Independent Transmission Projects (ITP) project, sending out a request for information (RFI) to interested parties looking to boost the country’s energy and infrastructure sectors.
The RFI submission deadline is set for February 2025. This is the first step towards the launch of the ITP pilot tender planned in 2025.
The pilot is the government’s ambitious plan to draw investment to the country’s struggling transmission lines and boost grid capacity for new renewable projects and other investment.
South Africa needs billions upon billions of rands over the next decade to build out transmission networks so that it can meet its energy goals. The government has signalled that it wants the private sector involved in a big way to accomplish this.
“South Africa’s ability to achieve its ambitious infrastructure investment goals set at 10% of GDP hinges on the successful mobilisation of public and private capital.
“As such, this market-sounding exercise is designed to gauge the level of interest and readiness among industry stakeholders, and to explore innovative, alternative models for the development and delivery of power transmission infrastructure and expedite the implementation of the Transmission Development Plan,” National Treasury said.
The RFI exercise seeks to gather insights on the market’s interest, capabilities, and potential solutions for accelerating transmission infrastructure development.
It will also assist in the design of an effective procurement framework, inform the development of regulatory instruments, and guide the preparation of the tender documents.
Treasury noted that the RFI exercise is open to all interested parties, including private developers, financiers, DFIs and other interested stakeholders.
“Responses to the RFI will play a critical role in shaping the final structure of the tender and the successful implementation of the ITP programme.
“This ITP process aims to unlock substantial investment in transmission infrastructure, which is crucial for supporting economic growth, attracting private sector participation, and driving innovation in the energy sector.”
The government has identified the ITP programme as a cornerstone in achieving its economic growth target of 5% as outlined in the National Development Plan (NDP).
Therefore, the ITP programme is a strategic response to South Africa’s constrained fiscal position, Eskom’s limited balance sheet, and the need for greater private sector involvement in the country’s energy transition
All interested parties, including developers, funders, and financiers, have been urged to participate in the exercise by submitting their responses to the RFI from 12 December 2024 to 28 February 2025.
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