South Africa has more than 31.7GW of electricity projects seeking connection to the national grid, confirming the depth of private-sector investment flowing into the country’s energy system.
The scale of the pipeline is revealed in a newly released public dashboard by the National Transmission Company of South Africa (NTCSA), tracking grid-connected generation and storage projects that have either secured or are applying for budget quotes for grid connection.
With this pipeline expansion, questions remain over the capacity of the transmission network (grid) to absorb new power.
These projects have moved beyond early-stage feasibility and are actively seeking access to Eskom’s transmission system, which is a costly and technically demanding step that signals serious intent.
Eskom and the NTCSA report that the dashboard is intended to improve transparency around grid access and help developers plan realistically. The utility previously warned that while generation investment has surged, transmission development has lagged for more than a decade, creating regional bottlenecks that now require urgent intervention.
In total, 332 projects appear on the dashboard, with 204 classified as “advanced”, representing close to 24 GW of capacity planned over the next five years.
When projects already operational, under construction, or with issued grid quotes are combined, the total reaches 16.2 GW – a positive outlook for South
Africa’s power system.
The energy mix also highlights how sharply the country’s energy landscape has changed. Solar photovoltaic projects dominate, accounting for 15.2GW, followed by 9.6GW of wind capacity across 79 projects.
Energy storage is emerging as a meaningful contributor, with about 2.1GW of battery projects, while an estimated 3GW of gas-to-power capacity is linked to proposed developments in Richards Bay, Kwa-Zulu Natal.
Nuclear capacity also features through the Koeberg life-extension programme despite renewables taking the lion’s share of new builds.
Crucially, these figures exclude behind-the-metre rooftop and onsite solar, estimated separately at about 7GW, meaning the actual expansion of generation capacity is even larger than the dashboard suggests.
The data confirm that generation capacity is no longer South Africa’s primary energy bottleneck. Instead, the constraint has shifted decisively to transmission infrastructure.
The geographic spread of these energy projects illustrates the transmission infrastructure challenge. The Free State leads with about 4.2 GW across 31 projects, while Limpopo and North West dominate solar development, and the Eastern Cape and Western Cape remain the heartland of wind energy. Many of these regions are already experiencing grid congestion, particularly in areas with strong renewable resources but limited transmission capacity.
As a result, dozens of projects, including 114 projects representing 15.4GW, remain stuck at the grid-quote application stage. While developer appetite remains strong, delays in grid access risk slowing construction timelines, raising financing costs and potentially stranding capital.
The digital dashboard also offers a window into what energy transition looks like in practice.
Rather than being driven primarily by policy targets or government procurement rounds, much of the new capacity is market-led, backed by private capital
seeking reliable, lower-cost electricity in a volatile energy environment.
Faster grid expansion is expected to unlock investment, support industrial growth, and accelerate emissions reductions without relying solely on public finance. The transmission “gridlock” may undermine the benefits of the private energy boom, leaving South Africa with projects on paper but power undelivered.
To unlock the generation pipeline opportunity and ensure grid capacity expansion, the NTCSA has been tasked with constructing about 14 000km-14 500km of extra-high-voltage transmission lines by 2035 to accommodate 56GW of new capacity.
This build-out is expected to require about R440-billion, that the government, Eskom and NTCSA recognise cannot be borne by public finance alone.
