en.Wedoany.com Reported - South Africa's state-owned power utility Eskom has established a new unit, Eskom Green, aiming to achieve 40GW of renewable energy capacity by 2040 to accelerate the deployment of large-scale clean energy projects. This target aligns with South Africa's 2025 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP).

Eskom noted that since the release of the 2019 version of the IRP, only about 50% of renewable energy projects that have secured grid allocation and power purchase agreements have been built. The company stated that this highlights the need for enhanced coordination to maintain energy security while achieving emission reduction targets and creating an addressable market.

The new unit is part of Eskom's unbundling strategy, which aims to transform from a vertically integrated company into independent, specialized entities. Eskom Green will differentiate itself from the parent company through agile decision-making, access to diversified capital, a partnership-based delivery model, and bankable project structures, ultimately being spun off into a wholly-owned subsidiary with an independent board of directors.

Rivoningo Mnisi, Executive for Renewable Energy at Eskom, stated that Eskom Green, as a utility-scale renewable energy business, will rapidly increase the decarbonization options available to South African industries, drive industrial and capacity transformation to maintain export competitiveness, and help customers reduce their carbon footprint.

Initially, Eskom Green will primarily target high-energy-consuming sectors such as mining and manufacturing, providing decarbonization solutions through direct bilateral power purchase agreements and other means. The company is expected to have approximately 6GW of green power available by 2030, leveraging Eskom's pipeline of renewable energy and energy storage projects under development, including at least 2GW of renewable energy and pumped storage projects, expected to advance from 2026 onwards, based on the 75MW Lethabo solar photovoltaic project in the Free State province.

Thereafter, Eskom Green will finance up to 32GW of renewable energy and energy storage projects by 2040 through project special purpose vehicles. In terms of technology, the project pipeline will be biased towards solar photovoltaic, supported by battery energy storage, pumped storage, and wind power.

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