Image: Filiz Elaerts, Unsplash
French development agency Agence Française de Développement is investing ZAR 125 million in a hydro storage system project in South Africawhich will be developed by a state-owned company Eskom.
The Tubatse Pumped Storage System project will be built in Elias Motsoaledi, Limpopo.
It will have a power generation capacity of 1.5 GW, consisting of four 375 MW units, in addition to a storage capacity of 21 GWh, and has been identified as a top priority by the Infrastructure South Africa Programme.
Eskom plans to develop the project as a public-private partnership, with a feasibility study on private sector participation scheduled for the first quarter of 2026. The project is scheduled to be implemented between 2025 and 2033.
A statement from Eskom Group CEO Dan Marokane said large-scale storage and grid services are necessary to support the development of sustainable energy in South Africa.
“Without large-scale facilities like Tubatse, managing intermittent energy from renewables – wind and solar – would be very difficult without the kind of intervention that pumped storage systems provide,” Marokane said.
He noted that Eskom plans to implement at least 2 GW of projects within the next three years, comprising solar, wind, hydro, gas, nuclear and pumped storage, from an existing pipeline of projects from a total of 20 GW.
Earlier this month, South Africa’s national energy regulator granted Eskom licenses for two new solar projects that will generate revenue together 125.3 MW.
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