South Africa’s power crisis flips: From loadshedding to load surplus

PRETORIA - South Africa has moved from worrying about too little electricity to having too much of it at certain times.

South Africa’s power crisis has flipped.

Government is shifting gears on the energy build programme, prioritising grid stability over adding more renewable generation.

The grid is now struggling with surplus power it can’t use or store.

Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said 9,600 megawatts will be allocated exclusively to battery storage and gas-to-power.

This opening round includes no allocation for new wind or solar.

For energy developers, pausing new wind and solar is a bitter pill.

But government argues that buying power the network cannot carry is a waste of money.

The real challenge now is speed; can the state and private investors actually get these battery and gas projects off the ground without the usual delays?

eNCA senior reporter Silindelo Sebata has more details in the video above.