Eskom has broken ground on a new R1.2 billion 75MW solar power plant to be based at the Lethabo Power Station in the Free State, marking a major step in integrating renewable generation within the power utility’s coal-fired power station-heavy fleet.
“Once completed, the plant is expected to generate approximately 147GWh of electricity annually, supplying power to an estimated 60,000 households. In addition to its energy contribution, the project will create vital local economic opportunities and contribute significantly to skills development during both the construction and operational phases,” Eskom said on Wednesday.
Speaking at a ceremony marking the start of construction, Eskom’s Group Chief Executive, Dan Marokane, noted that the much-improved performance of the coal-fired fleet is setting a platform to phase in renewable energy.
“Last week we celebrated 365 days without loadshedding, as a result of the focused delivery over the past three years of the generation recovery plan by our skilled employees.
“Now that we have delivered a stable electricity platform for the South African economy to grow from, we can seamlessly enable the integration of renewable energy sources as required by the 2025 Integrated Resource Plan [IRP] to maintain future energy security.
“We are playing our part in bringing online the new generation capacity required by focusing on the deep technical and institutional capability of our employees, built over decades of public investment, that remains a critical part of our national capacity towards delivering cleaner sources of energy,” Marokane said.
Eskom’s Group Executive for Renewables, Rivoningo Mnisi, described the solar power plant as “a significant milestone” in the power utility’s renewable energy pipeline and forms part of the “broader strategy to diversify the generation mix, support South Africa’s Just Energy Transition objectives and provide customers with lower carbon electricity”.
“By leveraging existing power station infrastructure, this project demonstrates the practical integration of renewable energy technology within our existing coal-fired power station fleet infrastructure and signals Eskom’s continued commitment to strengthening security of supply while transitioning toward a lower-carbon future,” Mnisi said.
Investing in renewable energy
According to Eskom, the solar power plant is one of 17 high‑priority projects expected to be implemented across the electricity supplier’s existing coal‑fired power station footprint.
Construction on these is expected to kick off between now and 2028, with those projects representing 6GW of new capacity by the end of the decade.
“These developments will be strategically located at power stations including Arnot, Duvha, Majuba, Tutuka, Lethabo, Komati, Kendal, Kusile, Hendrina, Camden and Grootvlei, leveraging existing infrastructure to accelerate deployment, reduce costs and strengthen grid resilience.
“The Lethabo project also forms part of Eskom’s construction‑ready pipeline of at least 2GW of renewable energy and pumped storage projects progressing during 2026.
“Funding for these projects has been provisioned within Eskom’s approved capital expenditure program and will be financed through on‑balance sheet funding, in line with National Treasury debt relief conditions, without reliance on additional project finance borrowing,” Eskom explained.
Eskom Green will also adopt a “proactive growth strategy that extends beyond Eskom-owned land and existing decommissioning sites”.
“While these anchor projects provide a critical foundation, Eskom Green’s long-term value creation requires expanding into new geographic and technological opportunities.
“To this end, Eskom Green will actively pursue partnerships, co-development opportunities and strategic acquisitions of advanced-stage development projects and operating renewable assets located in high-resource areas with superior wind and solar irradiation,” the power utility said.
This will enable Eskom to “optimise its generation portfolio, diversify its revenue base, and ensure alignment with customer load profiles” by balancing technological advancements like pumped-storage, wind, PV, BESS and other alternatives such as green hydrogen.
“Eskom Green will provide a fit-for-purpose structure to facilitate utility-scale renewables through public-private partnerships, leveraging Eskom’s existing footprint and system knowledge.
“The proposed funding framework ensures limited recourse to the Eskom balance sheet using project finance principles for the renewable energy projects through dedicated project Special Purpose Vehicles.
“This will lead to the advancement of Eskom’s pipeline of more than 32GW of cost-competitive renewable energy and storage projects by 2040 to diversify its energy mix as part of the emissions reduction strategy and enable customers to decarbonise over the life of their operations,” Eskom concluded. – SAnews.gov.za
