Key Takeaways
- Eskom has launched a dedicated renewable energy business called Eskom Green
- 17 priority projects have been identified across existing coal station sites
- The subsidiary targets 6GW of clean energy capacity by 2030
South Africa’s state power utility, Eskom, has launched a dedicated renewable energy business designed to accelerate large-scale clean energy development to around 3,200 MW by 2040.
Eskom announced the launch of Eskom Green on Tuesday, describing it as an agile utility-scale renewable energy business built to support larger power users in achieving their decarbonisation and energy transition objectives.
South Africa currently generates more than 70% of its electricity from coal, leaving the country significantly behind its own renewable energy targets.
The utility firm said delays in the country’s renewable energy rollout directly informed the decision to create a separate business, noting that a large share of awarded projects with grid allocation and offtake agreements had yet to reach completion despite growing demand from industry.
The Group Executive for Eskom Renewables Rivoningo Mnisi said the move was driven by customer demand. “Eskom Green is, in essence, a response to what we know our customers need and what South Africans have told us they need,” she said.
What Eskom Green set to achieve
The new subsidiary said that a total of 17 high-priority projects have been identified for implementation across Eskom’s existing coal-fired power station footprint, leveraging established infrastructure to deliver approximately 6GW of additional capacity by 2030. This includes at least 2GW of renewable energy and pumped storage projects expected to advance from 2026, anchored by the 75MW Lethabo Solar PV project in the Free State.
The Lethabo project marks the first instance of new generation capacity being integrated directly with an existing Eskom coal asset, the statement read in part.
The next co-location project is planned for the Komati Power Station, which Eskom decommissioned from coal operations in 2022 and has since been earmarked for repurposing into a renewable energy hub.
Looking beyond 2030, Eskom Green said it plans to develop up to 32GW of renewable energy and storage capacity by 2040, with projects largely funded through dedicated special-purpose vehicles and public-private partnerships to limit pressure on Eskom’s balance sheet.
Why the subsidiary is being structured as a separate business
Eskom Green has been designed following global benchmarking research on over 20 utilities. ]
The findings showed that developing renewable energy projects requires agile decision-making, access to diverse sources of capital, partnership-based delivery models, and bankable project structures, all of which are significantly different from Eskom’s traditional vertically integrated generation model. The new business will initially operate within Eskom Holdings. It will then be separated into a wholly owned subsidiary with an independent board, subject to the necessary governance, regulatory and shareholder approvals.
The Group CEO Dan Marokane said the announcement goes beyond carbon compliance.
“This is not simply about carbon content compliance but delivering leading-edge solutions at scale to enable Eskom customers in implementing their decarbonisation strategies,” he said.
Mining and manufacturing are identified as the primary target sectors, given their high electricity consumption and growing pressure from export markets to reduce carbon emissions.
