Energy management + energy efficiency
Grid modernisation as a catalyst for SA’s industrial future By the end of 2025, the country’s cumulative installed solar photovoltaic capacity surpassed 10.2 GW. This achievement ranks South Africa first in Africa for installed capacity per capita and places it among the top 20 solar markets globally.
concerns remain regarding the unbundling of Eskom. Khuluse emphasises that for the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA) to succeed, it needs to function as an investment-grade, standalone entity capable of raising the capital required to deliver the 14 500 km of new transmission lines needed this decade. “The economics are simple: a transmission operator without a strong asset base is a high-risk borrower,” he notes. Khuluse argues that to attract the R440 billion required for new power lines, the NTCSA must evolve beyond its status as a subsidiary of the national utility. Investor trust depends on two non-negotiables: transparent governance and a firewall between the entities managing the grid and those generating the power.” Beyond physical infrastructure, policy tools like the Grid Capacity Allocation Rules (GCAR) approved in November 2025 are essential. By adopting a “first-ready, first-served” approach, these rules prevent “grid hogging” and ensure only viable projects with secured permits and financing gain access to the limited network capacity. As well as being larger, the future South African grid needs to be smarter. 2026 is set to see a growing number of hybrid plants, with nearly 50% of new projects incorporating battery energy storage systems (BESS). This transition from variable renewables generation to firm, dispatchable power, capable of providing ancillary services like frequency regulation is the new baseline for grid stability, says Khuluse. Smart infrastructure, including advanced metering, automated wheeling billing at the municipal level, and utility-scale storage, will allow the grid to act as a dynamic marketplace rather than a one-way supply line. With the South African Wholesale Electricity Market (SAWEM) expected to come into effect in 2026, the ability to “time-shift” solar generation into peak periods will become a commercial necessity. As the voice of the solar PV industry, SAPVIA continues to drive the dialogue among key stakeholders. Championing quality standards through the PV GreenCard and successfully lobbying for the October 2025 simplification of Small-Scale Embedded Generation (SSEG) registrations, the association seeks to ensure that the transition is not only fast but technically sound, safe and sustainable. “Our vision is for solar PV to be a significant and reliable contributor to the South African electricity mix,” says Khuluse. “For 2026, the focus must be on expanding and modernising the grid. This will enable us to solve the current technical problem – and to secure the industrial and economic future of the country.”
H owever, as the pipeline of renewable energy projects grows – now at 220 GW, of which 72 GW is already at an advanced stage of development – the industry has reached a critical bottleneck. The challenge is no longer a lack of investment appetite or technology readiness; it is the physical and regulatory capacity of the national grid. The South African Photovoltaic Industry Association (SAPVIA) puts it this way: The energy transition has moved beyond the need to generate electrons; the need now is to build the infrastructure that carries them. The 2025 South African Renewable Energy Grid Survey (SAREGS) highlighted that developers are ready to build, but grid connection remains the single biggest hurdle to timely delivery. In high-resource areas like the Northern Cape and the Eastern Cape, projects are competing for limited connection points, leading to a ‘gridlock’ that threatens to stifle private-sector-led growth. “We have the current; we just lack the conduit,” says Sim Khuluse, Technical and Policy Manager at SAPVIA. “The priority has shifted from incentivising investment to actively unblocking the grid. By expanding and modernising our national grid infrastructure and refining wheeling frameworks, we will be able to move the 220 GW renewable pipeline into active production. In 2026, grid connectivity, not capital, is the final arbiter of South Africa’s energy success.” SAPVIA has been a vocal advocate for the “liberation” of the transmission grid. The association welcomed the Electricity Regulation Amendment Act of 2025, yet Sim Khuluse, SAPVIA.
For more information, visit www.sapvia.co.za
14 Electricity + Control APRIL 2026
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