Massive batteries coming to South Africa

South Africa is adding roughly 1,244MW of power capacity and nearly 5,000MWh of energy storage to the grid through utility-scale batteries over the next two years.

Peak daytime electricity generation is expected to increase with more adoption of solar power on the country’s grid in the coming years.

However, this capacity will be useless without storage, considering that the peak demand periods are early in the morning or late at night.

Battery energy storage systems (BESS) are strategically deployed at or near substations to store excess energy and discharge it to the grid when necessary.

Therefore, they will function similarly to emergency peaking power stations, such as open-cycle gas turbines or pumped storage schemes.

The main benefit is that they won’t require diesel or water to run but can use excess cheap renewable power.

There are already a handful of BESS projects connected to the national grid, with a combined peak output of roughly 308MW.

The largest of these is Scatec’s Kenhardt BESS in the Northern Cape, which boasts a maximum output of 225MW and 1,140MWh storage.

The facility could technically provide nearly five hours of its full capacity but has been contracted to put out 150MW, enabling somewhere between seven and eight hours of supply when the sun is not shining.

The BESS supports uninterrupted power from 05:00 until 21:30 and runs in conjunction with three solar farms with 540MW peak production capacity.

Eskom also has five BESS facilities in operation, with the biggest being its 40MW/160MWh Pongola facility in KwaZulu-Natal.

16 projects in the pipeline

The additional BESS sites coming online over the next few years have either been procured by Eskom itself or the Department of Electricity and Energy.

The latter is running its procurement processes under the Battery Energy Storage Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (BESIPPPP).

The department has already announced 13 projects as preferred bidders under two BESSIPPP bid windows.

Five projects were awarded preferential bid status in the first bid window, with a combined contracted capacity of 513MW and energy storage of 2,052MWh.

The largest among these is Globeleq’s Red Sands project, which connects to the Garona substation in the Northern Cape.

It will supply 153MW of power and boast 612MWh storage, making it the biggest standalone BESS in the country.

All five projects under Bid Window 1 are expected to be operational by early 2027.

In the second bid window, the department chose eight more projects with a combined contracted power output of 615MW and 2,464MWh of storage.

The department plans to announce the preferred bidders from the third bid window by the end of February 2025.

This round of procurement is seeking another 616MW of capacity and 2,464MWh of storage.

It has received bids for 33 projects, all of which have either 123MW or 124MW capacity and 492MWh or 496MWh of storage.

Based on those sizes and the amount of capacity sought, at least five plants should be chosen.

Eskom had completed or was scheduled to roll out five of eight projects under the first phase of its BESS programme in 2024, with about 90MW output and 267MWh storage.

An additional three are expected to come online in 2025, including its biggest planned BESS at Skaapvlei in the Western Cape, with an 80MW output and 320MWh storage.

The tables below provide a summary of the BESS projects procured by Eskom or the national government and how much utility-scale battery capacity they offer.

Overall BESS capacity overview