South Africa needs approximately 14,500 km of new transmission lines by 2034 to support renewable energy growth. About R440 billion investment is required for this.
The Development Bank of Southern Africa’s latest report, titled “Propelling South Africa’s Energy Transition through Investment in Transmission Infrastructure”outlines the transmission investment models and enablers geared towards attracting private sector participation.
The report, authored by Mahlatsi Molokomme, Principal Investment Officer and Mpho Mokwele, Group Executive, Transacting, at the DBSA, illustrates the work cut out for the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA), between 2025 – 2034.
The Transmission Development Plan (TDP) for the next ten years, is already underway. The plan proposes a construction capacity of about 800 km of transmission lines per year, required to increase to an average of 1,450 km per year, with the potential to peak at around 2,700km annually.
This infrastructure expansion is necessary to integrate new renewable energy generation capacity of 56,000 MW, anticipated between 2025 and 2034.
The TDP pipeline over the next five years comprises of projects that are either ready for execution or in various stages of development (total 5,000 km).
This first phase rollout will require an investment amount R112 billion between 2025 and 2029.