South Africa has prioritised the procurement of 4,600 MW of battery storage systems and 5,000 MW of gas-fired power plants in the first implementing decision under its 2025 electricity plan, Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa announced on 7 October.
The 9,600 MW refers to capacity targeted by future tenders, not to facilities already available. The decision, taken under section 34 of the Electricity Act, paves the way for public procedures run by the Independent Power Producers Office. Eskom will also be able to take part.
The first batch does not provide for new wind or solar capacity. The government says a later decision will address these technologies, hybrid projects combined with storage, and pumped storage. This sequence reflects the aim of using electricity already generated more efficiently before adding new variable sources.
Storage is expected to absorb part of the energy that would otherwise be curtailed when generation exceeds demand or the grid cannot transmit it. Batteries will be able to release this electricity during the evening peak and provide fast balancing services. Their location must, however, allow charging and discharging without moving the same constraints to another point on the grid.
South Africa already has a base of projects. The five projects from the first storage tender, totalling 513 MW and 2,052 MWh, reached financial close and began construction in June 2025, for 15.4 billion rand in investment. Engineering News puts the storage awarded in procedures so far at 1,744 MW and 6,976 MWh.
The new announcement specifies only a power capacity of 4,600 MW and does not state the amount of energy, in megawatt-hours, that the batteries will need to store. This storage duration will be decisive in measuring their ability to shift electricity to periods of high demand and in assessing the total cost of the contracts.
The 5,000 MW of gas-fired plants must provide dispatchable output when renewables weaken or consumption rises. The ministry says the tenders will jointly examine fuel prices, the ports and pipelines required, grid connections and commissioning schedules. No overall cost or completion date for the new capacity has yet been announced.