Eskom and Agence Française de Développement (AFD) have signed a R125 million grant agreement to support the public electricity utility in the development of its Tubatse Pumped Storage System (PSS) project, located in the Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality in Limpopo.

The Tubatse Pumped Hydro Storage System was approved as a priority infrastructure project by the Infrastructure South Africa Programme in a previous bid window.

This European Union grant funding, delegated to AFD for implementation, will contribute to the development of the Tubatse PSS project – a mega installation with a power generation capacity of 1,5 GW (4 x 375 MW units) and a storage capacity of 21 GWh. Large-scale storage and grid services such as these are necessary to accommodate the rapid development of renewable energy in South Africa, as planned through the Just Energy Transition (JET) Investment Plan.

“This support will provide Eskom and in turn South Africa with a further pathway to move from a high-carbon to a low-carbon economy. Without large-scale facilities such as Tubatse, the management of intermittent power from renewable energy–wind and PV–would be very difficult without the kind of intervention that pump storage systems offer”, said Dan Marokane, Group Chief Executive at Eskom.

“Eskom has developed a pipeline of more than 20 GW of clean energy projects to diversify its energy mix and reduce its emissions related to fossil fuel generation. Over the next 3 years we have an ambition to execute at least 2GW of these projects. The clean energy projects will consist of a diversified capacity mix of renewable energy solar PV and wind), hydro, gas, nuclear and pump storage,” Marokane said.

Eskom plans to develop the Tubatse PSS project as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP). To this end, they intend to hire a Transaction Advisor to conduct a comprehensive Private Sector Participation (PSP) feasibility study and business case in the first quarter of 2026. This Transaction Advisor, funded by a grant, will assist Eskom in selecting a private developer for the implementation of the project, which is scheduled to occur between 2025 and 2033.

“The partnership between Team Europe and South Africa continues to deepen. We are rolling out our Global Gateway investment programme in crucial areas such as the green energy transition. The Global Gateway grant funding provided here today will further unlock the immense potential for renewable energy and support South Africa to realise its ambitions for a greener tomorrow “, said Sandra Kramer, Ambassador of the European Union to South Africa.