South Africa’s state-owned power utility Eskom has launched a dedicated renewable energy business, Eskom Green, aimed at accelerating utility-scale renewable energy projects and helping industrial customers reduce carbon emissions while securing reliable power supply.
The new entity, announced on Tuesday, forms part of Eskom’s broader restructuring programme and is expected to be separated from the parent company into a wholly owned subsidiary with its own board, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals.
Eskom Green will focus on developing large-scale renewable energy projects and supplying electricity to energy-intensive industries such as mining and manufacturing through power purchase agreements (PPAs) and government-backed procurement programmes.
“Eskom Green is a utility-scale renewable energy business that rapidly accelerates the options available to South Africa’s industries to decarbonise and maintain export competitiveness,” Rivoningo Mnisi, Group Executive for Eskom Renewables, said in a statement.
The utility said the new business model was informed by international benchmarking of more than 20 utilities, which found that renewable energy projects require more agile decision-making, flexible financing structures and stronger partnerships than traditional vertically integrated power generation operations.
Under its proposed customer model, Eskom Green will supply renewable electricity generated from its own assets and complement it with energy storage and firming arrangements to provide round-the-clock power where required.
The company said pricing would be transparent, with network and wheeling charges passed directly to customers without mark-ups.
South Africa is seeking to expand renewable energy generation while reducing its reliance on coal-fired power stations, which currently account for the majority of the country’s electricity supply.
Eskom said Eskom Green would initially target large industrial users before expanding its services to municipalities, the South African Wholesale Electricity Market (SAWEM), the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP), and distribution customers.
The company plans to have about 6 gigawatts (GW) of carbon-free electricity available by 2030 through a portfolio of renewable energy and storage projects currently under development.
The longer-term target is to develop up to 32 GW of renewable energy and storage capacity by 2040.
A total of 17 priority projects have been identified across Eskom’s existing coal-fired power station sites, leveraging existing infrastructure to add approximately 6 GW of capacity by 2030. These include renewable energy, battery storage and pumped-storage projects.
Among the first developments is a 75-megawatt solar photovoltaic project at the Lethabo power station in South Africa’s Free State province. Eskom said a similar approach would be pursued at other sites, including the Komati power station.
The utility said funding for the initial phase of projects had been allocated within its approved capital expenditure programme and would not require additional project-finance borrowing. Future projects are expected to be financed through special purpose vehicles (SPVs), public-private partnerships and other co-development structures.
According to Eskom, the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) 2025 projects that South Africa will require 5.6 GW of new renewable energy capacity by 2030, rising to 21 GW by 2035 and 32 GW by 2040.
The utility said Eskom Green would work alongside private sector developers to help close the country’s generation capacity gap while supporting national emissions-reduction goals and long-term energy security.
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