South Africa has pre-qualified seven international groups under the first phase of its multi-year Independent Transmission Procurement (ITP) mega projectThe shortlist includes an intriguing mix of global players from across the continents, including India, China, Europe and the Middle East, with familiar names such as Adani Power, Electricite de France (EDF) and China’s State Grid International.The transmission project is estimated to cost around R440bn (US$26bn) over the next 10 years and will play an integral role in shoring up South Africa’s beleaguered power sector.The finalists from the list will assist in the construction of a 14-000 kilometre power transmission line, to be built in stages, under a strategic public-private partnership.Minister of Electricity and Energy Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said that out of the 17 responses to its pre-qualification documents, seven had now been shortlisted under the first phase of the ITP project.Final requests for proposals are anticipated to be released by the third quarter of the 2026/27 calendar year, he added.The seven pre-qualified companies are:• Adani Power Middle East Ltd – Momentous Energy (Pty) Ltd Consortium (Lead member: Adani Power Middle East Limited)• AREF Cobra Transmission Consortium (Lead member: Grupo Cobra South Africa Holdings (Pty) Ltd)• Consortium Pulse Infrastructure (Lead member: Celeo Redes S.L.)• EITP Consortium (Lead member: Okavango Projects SA (Pty) Ltd)• State Grid Consortium (Lead member: State Grid International Development Co., Ltd)• The Hyperion Consortium (Lead member: EDF EN South Africa (Pty) Ltd)• Transmission Africa Consortium (Lead member: China Southern Power Grid International (HK) Co., Ltd)The ITP project forms a critical — and costly — part of South Africa’s attempts to rebuild its once-illustrious power sector and to connect about 1.6 million households that still have no access to electricity.The government is now relying on private sector collaboration to rapidly expand and modernise the country’s transmission infrastructure, an area once the domain of state-owned power utility, Eskom.A core part of the strategy is to include a policy of localisation and industrialisation, which now sits at the centre of South Africa’s energy infrastructure programme.“Through the ITP programme, large-scale infrastructure investment is being aligned with clear industrial policy objectives to ensure that growth in the electricity sector translates into tangible economic and developmental outcomes,” an Energy Ministry statement read.“By prioritising local production, skills development, enterprise participation and technology transfer, the programme seeks to ‘crowd in’ private investment while simultaneously supporting local industry, expanding industrial capability, and securing long-term economic value for the country.”Read more:
EDF, Adani, among seven shortlisted for SA transmission upgrade
International companies are lining up to expand South Africa’s transmission grid (Image source: Adobe Stock)
