Page 21 - EngineerIT June July 2025

ENERGY

Plugging in power: South Africa’s BES boom

amid plunging battery power prices

By Chris Yelland relieve transmission bottlenecks global price shifts are vital. Unit
and enhance grid stability upon pricing reductions make utility-scale
outh Africa is taking steps completion in 2027. Only a month BES projects more economically
towards an era of greater grid earlier, EEBI reported on South viable in South Africa, enhancing
Sresilience with the 153 MW / Africa becoming a significant BESS renewables integration and helping
612 MWh Red Sands Battery Energy destination on the global stage, with combat load-shedding.
Storage (BES) project achieving preferred bidders announced for a
financial close, marking Africa’s total of 615 MW / 2460 MWh under The NTCSA and Eskom stand to benefit
largest standalone BES system to date. Bid Window 3 of the Battery Energy from competitive capital costs,
The joint venture initiative between Storage IPP Procurement Programme especially as long-duration storage
Globeleq and African Rainbow Energy (BESIPPPP) of the IPP Office, cementing becomes a backbone of dispatchable
secured R5.4bn debt financing from the role of BES in supporting Eskom's power. Together, BESIPPPP, Red Sands
Absa and Standard Bank. grid. This local progress aligns and declining battery prices signal a
with global trends as battery costs turning point in South Africa’s energy
The achievement was inked in a continue to plummet. landscape – pointing to a future
15-year power purchase agreement where clean, dependable and cost-
signed with the National Transmission In China, a monumental auction effective storage underwrites a stable,
Company South Africa (NTCSA) and for 25 GWh of lithium-ion battery cleaner grid.
procured by the IPP Office of the modules yielded bids as low as
Department of Energy & Electricity. US$51.6/kWh for four-hour storage To see an archive of all energy and
The system, located near Upington systems – about 30% below last electricity sector roundups to date,
in the Northern Cape province, will year’s average. Domestically, these visit: www.eebi.co.za/news

RUGGEDCOM products provide a level of robustness
and reliability that have set the standard for
communications networks deployed in
harsh environments.

Managed 10 Gigabit Rack Switches -
RUGGEDCOM RST2000 Series
These Ethernet 19-inch rack switches are ideal for high RUGGEDCOM Multi-Service Platforms
bandwidth and high port density applications in the Our Multi-Service Platforms are ideal for high-
electric power, transportation, oil & gas, and other performance industrial networks. Designed to exceed
critical infrastructure industries. With a wide variety of IEC 61850-3 requirements, these utility-grade modular
different physical modules available, these units can devices integrate Layer 2 switching, Layer 3 routing,
be customized for your application, including acting cyber-security, and management functionalities on
as PRP/HSR redboxes. the same physical infrastructure.

CONTACT
Tel: +27 (0)11 454 6025
email: sales@h3isquared.com
Web: https://h3isquared.com

21 | EngineerIT June/July 2025