The South African Photovoltaic Industry Association (SAPVIA) said it welcomes the fast-tracked payment mechanism recently introduced for Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
This follows the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA) introducing a two-step payment system to disburse 100% of estimated curtailment compensation claims upfront to Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
This is expected to reduce the claims backlog from R2 billion to R1.5 billion.
This is for an estimated 117 renewable projects yielding 10 083 Megawatts (MW) across the country.
SAPVIA said the move by NTCSA, will “ease a cash-flow squeeze that has fallen hardest on B-BBEE equity partners in South Africa’s renewable energy projects.”
This is after curtailment instructions to IPPs rose from roughly 100 a month earlier this year, to more than 1 000 a month.
This generated backlog of deemed energy claims and invoices.
NTCSA confirmed the value of curtailment claims under verification and settlement were reduced from R2 billion in mid-June to a current R1.5 billion.
It is targeting completion of the remaining assessments and payment of approved claims, by the end of August 2026.
The mechanism was set out by the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA) and its Central Purchasing Agency at a bilateral engagement with SAPVIA on 22 July 2026.
Dr Rethabile Melamu, CEO of SAPVIA, said “delayed curtailment compensation has placed significant financial strain on IPPs, and B-BBEE equity partners have been disproportionately affected because they carry the least headroom to absorb a payment delay. Resolving these cash-flow bottlenecks is not an administrative detail. It is fundamental to protecting broad-based transformation in this sector and to maintaining investor confidence in South Africa’s energy transition.”
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