SANDTON - The government will pick contractors for the first phase of the Independent Transmission Project next year.
It's looking for nearly half-a-trillion rand in private sector investment, to build transmission lines for renewable energy.
Through this project, the government seeks to build transmission lines, as long as 14,000 kilometres, in the next ten years. But it doesn’t have the approximately R480-billion required.
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The Electricity Minister says government will open the request for proposals in November.
Ramokgopa says regulations to guide transmission system agreements, and how private operators will recover their money, have been published for public consultation.
He adds that phase one of the project will begin once Eskom signs an agreement with the winning bidder.
"Yes, it’s about 1160 km, once we’ve completed, it’ll give us additional 3222 MW of generating capacity. It’s in the Northern Cape, the North West, and Gauteng, and we’re confident it’s going to help in achieving energy security the country," Ramakgopa explained.
Despite the private sector being expected to spend billions of rand on this project, the Electricity department says Eskom’s National Transmission Company of South Africa will exclusively operate the transmission lines, which will ultimately fall under state ownership.
By: Moloko Moloto