South Africa - Oyster Bay - 13 February 2021 - The Kouga Wind Farm is a renewabl The country's ageing grid infrastructure is one of the most significant bottlenecks facing the growth of renewables and the stability of South Africa's energy landscape-and therefore the economy.
South Africa has 72 GW of renewable energy projects at advanced stages of development and a 220GW pipeline of renewable energy projects, yet the national grid lacks the capacity to connect them to businesses and homes.
This "gridlock" is the single biggest hurdle to unleashing the country's renewable potential, creating a significant risk of stalling the green transition and even triggering further electricity and economic crises, says Wayne Cowie, CEO at Energy Exchange South Africa (EXSA).
He says that while the focus has been on financing and building new power generation, the urgent challenge lies in upgrading the energy infrastructure-the lifeblood of a functioning energy landscape.
“As businesses desperately seek stable, affordable, and clean power, the conversation must shift to the twin pillars of the solution: rapid grid expansion and the strategic deployment of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS). Without these, our renewable ambitions will remain stranded.”
