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New dawn for South Africa’s electricity supply industry as ERA comes into force


In depth
Issue 519 - 21 Jan 2025 - By Tonderayi Mukeredzi | 7 minute read

South Africa’s electricity supply industry has witnessed a ‘big bang’ moment, with the Electricity Regulation Amendment Act coming into force on 1 January. The reforms represent a ground-breaking shift from a centralised Eskom to a liberalised market structure involving the private sector. Authorities hope competition will increase the reliability of supply, bring down prices and help to close an enormous infrastructure funding gap, writes Tonderayi Mukeredzi.

Where to next for South Africa’s new power market?

South Africa power map Jun 2022

Drastic regulatory reforms are reshaping South Africa’s electricity supply industry (ESI) into a diversified and competitive market. With the unbundling of the state power utility Eskom into separate units for generation, transmission and distribution, already underway, a deregulated energy market dominated by private players and electricity traders, is emerging.

Through reporting and the latest data, African Energy has been closely monitoring and covering the transition and the trends towards a liberalised ESI.

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