Eskom in money after R125 million agreement with French agency

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Eskom and Agence Française de Développement (AFD) have signed a R125 million grant agreement to support the development of the power utility’s Tubatse Pumped Storage System (PSS) project.

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The hydro storage system project is located in the Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality in Limpopo and has been billed as a top priority project by the Infrastructure South Africa Programme.

Pathway to achieve low carbon economy goals

Eskom Group Chief Executive (GCE), Dan Marokane, said the grant will provide South Africa and the power utility with another pathway to achieve its low carbon economy goals.

“Without large-scale facilities such as Tubatse, the management of intermittent power from renewable energy – wind and PV [photovoltaic] – would be very difficult without the kind of intervention that pump storage systems offer,” he said on Thursday.

The GCE added that the power utility has “developed a pipeline of more than 20 GW of clean energy projects to diversify its energy mix and reduce its emissions related to fossil fuel generation”.

“Over the next three years we have an ambition to execute at least 2GW of these projects. The clean energy projects will consist of a diversified capacity mix of renewable energy solar PV and wind, hydro, gas, nuclear and pump storage,” Marokane said.

The power utility described the Tubatse Pumped Hydro Storage System as a “mega installation with a power generation capacity of 1.5 GW” with a storage capacity of 21 GWh.

“Large-scale storage and grid services such as these are necessary to accommodate the rapid development of renewable energy in South Africa, as planned through the Just Energy Transition (JET) Investment Plan.

“Eskom plans to develop the Tubatse PSS project as a Public-Private Partnership and will intend to procure the services of a Transaction Advisor to conduct a thorough Private Sector Participation feasibility study and business case in the first quarter of 2026.

“This Transaction Advisor, to be financed by said grant funding, will support Eskom in procuring a private developer for the project’s implementation, which is scheduled for the 2025–2033 timeframe,” Eskom said.

Ambassador of the European Union to South Africa, Sandra Kramer, said of the grant agreement: “The partnership between Team Europe and South Africa continues to deepen. We are rolling out our Global Gateway investment programme in crucial areas such as the green energy transition.

“The Global Gateway grant funding provided here today will further unlock the immense potential for renewable energy and support South Africa to realise its ambitions for a greener tomorrow”.

AFD’s Regional Director for Southern Africa and Country Director for South Africa, Audrey Rojkoff, added: “AFD’s funding to Eskom reaffirms our commitment to support Eskom’s efforts to diversify its energy mix and maintain energy security, which will ultimately strengthen its capacity to respond to the growing energy needs and economic growth of South Africa”.