The South African government launched its Battery Energy Storage Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme in March 2023. Since then, it has opened three bid windows and announced 18 preferred bidders. The map above shows the locations of these 18 projects.

Five of the projects have reached ‘financial close’, the stage at which financing is secured and construction can begin. These five are expected to be built and operational by the end of 2026, adding a combined 513MW/2,023MWh of capacity to the national grid.

Why is this kind of grid-connected battery storage important? There are a few reasons, three of which are:

• It supports the expansion of renewable energy on the national grid. Battery storage can store the electricity generated by wind and solar when their electricity output is high and release it when it is low.
• Batteries increase the available grid capacity.
• Batteries can be charged from the grid and can store a substantial amount of electricity. This can be used to boost the electricity network during peak hours, reducing the strain on the network.

Connecting battery energy storage to the grid is also a way to alleviate loadshedding, says Eskom.

Get the data used in the chart on DataDesk