For households that have lived through years of interrupted power, a reliable electricity supply is not an abstraction. It shapes whether a small business can trade through the evening, whether a family can plan supper around a working stove, and whether the cost of living keeps climbing. It is with those daily realities in mind that government has moved to prioritise gas-to-power and battery energy storage systems as the backbone of its plan to strengthen the country’s electricity supply.
Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa announced the new Section 34 Determination for additional generation capacity over the 2026-2037 planning horizon at a media briefing on Wednesday. He framed the decision in terms of what it means for ordinary people. “This determination advances the seventh administration’s inclusive growth and employment and reduction of the cost-of-living impact on our people,” he said.
The Minister tied the intervention to the three apex priorities of the seventh administration. The first is growing the South African economy and creating jobs. The second is to address the cost of living and also address poverty. “I’m confident that this presents a new way, a blueprint of how we are addressing an immediate problem… technology gives us an opportunity to resolve that,” Ramokgopa explained.
At the heart of the announcement is an unexpected problem. According to the Minister, the clinical implementation of the Generation Recovery Plan by Eskom has left the system with surplus electricity, and that surplus itself presents a major risk. Curtailment, the practice of switching off generation that the grid cannot absorb, threatens to undermine future ambitions to procure new generation capacity from the private sector, because financing would become very expensive under such arrangements. “We are going to increase the risk of these projects failing, so it’s important that we are able to make an intervention in relation to how we deal with curtailment,” he said. “It also undermines the South African economy to benefit from this excess generation capacity, so we want to provide for storage.”
The department explained in a statement why batteries sit at the centre of that answer. Batteries can charge from electricity that would otherwise be curtailed and discharge during evening peaks or other periods of need, converting surplus generation into usable electricity while providing rapid balancing and grid support. Location matters too. Storage must be sited and operated where it can access surplus electricity and discharge without reproducing the network constraint. Procurement will be aligned with the charging and discharge requirements of the System Operator, supported by enforceable availability and performance obligations.
There is already a foundation to build on. By June last year, all five projects in the first battery storage bid window had reached commercial close and entered construction, attracting R15.4 billion in investment. The proposed 4,600 MW allocation will substantially expand the procurement of storage services.
Meanwhile, gas-to-power, with a proposed 5000MW allocation, will complement storage by providing dispatchable electricity when renewable output falls or demand rises. Gas generation does not absorb surplus electricity; its contribution depends on flexible operation that lets renewables serve demand during high-output periods and supplies the remaining requirement when that output declines. Procurement design will address start-up times, ramping capability and minimum operating levels, while fuel availability, delivered gas prices, supporting port and pipeline infrastructure, grid connections and commissioning schedules will be assessed together. Affordability must be evaluated against the expected operating profile of the plants.
Both storage and gas procurement will form part of government’s programme of transmission expansion, new industrial electricity demand and regional electricity trade. The department cautioned that while BESS can mitigate curtailment, sustained progress also requires delivery of the grid infrastructure needed to move electricity to consumers. The procurement programme will support local manufacturing, engineering, construction, skills development and broader ownership of energy infrastructure through measurable commitments.
Further coverage of the announcement is available at https://infrastructurenews.co.za/2026/10/08/south-africa-prioritises-gas-and-battery-storage/ and the piece was originally posted on SAnews.gov.za.