--- title: South Africa’s midday power glut is a hidden risk for... description: South Africa's independent power producers face a regulatory gap: private wheeling deals that sell renewable power directly to buyers like data centres have no... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/south-africa-s-midday-power-glut-is-a-hidden-risk-for-wheeling-deals-odjypbmul twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: South Africa’s midday power glut is a hidden risk for wheeling deals | daily.dev og:description: South Africa's independent power producers face a regulatory gap: private wheeling deals that sell renewable power directly to buyers like data centres have no... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/south-africa-s-midday-power-glut-is-a-hidden-risk-for-wheeling-deals-odjypbmul og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/oDjypbMUL.png og:image:alt: South Africa’s midday power glut is a hidden risk for wheeling deals og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # South Africa’s midday power glut is a hidden risk for wheeling deals **[TechCentral](https://daily.dev/sources/techcentral)** · 5 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary South Africa's independent power producers face a regulatory gap: private wheeling deals that sell renewable power directly to buyers like data centres have no guaranteed compensation when the grid operator curtails generation due to oversupply, unlike state-procured projects which receive deemed energy payments. Curtailment instructions to IPPs rose roughly tenfold this year, hitting up to 3GW on a single day during winter 2026, though Sapvia says only state-procured section 34 projects have been affected so far. A regulatory mechanism approved for 2025-2028 covers congestion-related curtailment but explicitly excludes oversupply curtailment, leaving compensation to bilateral contracts between IPPs and off-takers. Industry voices note that if oversupply curtailment reaches wheeling deals, data centres would see reduced renewable energy credits, and behind-the-meter batteries are floated as a partial mitigation, though they cannot recover power lost at the generator. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Are private wheeling power deals in South Africa compensated when the grid curtails power due to oversupply? No, private wheeling and off-take generation deals have no regulated compensation mechanism for oversupply curtailment in South Africa. The regulator's approved mechanism, running from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2028, only covers curtailment caused by grid congestion in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape, explicitly excluding oversupply curtailment. For oversupply, compensation depends entirely on the buyer or the bilateral power purchase agreement. _daily.dev surfaces regulatory updates like this for engineers tracking energy infrastructure risk in data center planning._ ### How much has IPP curtailment increased in South Africa in 2026? Curtailment instructions to independent power producers rose roughly tenfold, from about 100 a month earlier in the year to more than a thousand a month, according to the South African Photovoltaic Industry Association. During winter 2026 curtailment reached up to 3GW on a particularly bad day. So far, Sapvia says all these instructions affected only state-procured section 34 projects, not private wheeling generation. _Those evaluating renewable power contracts can follow grid reliability trends like this via daily.dev._ ### What happens to a data center's renewable energy credits if its wheeling IPP supplier is curtailed? If an IPP supplying a data center through wheeling is curtailed, less renewable electricity is available to credit against the data center's consumption, reducing savings and renewable coverage, unless the IPP provides replacement generation. The data center still draws grid power during the shortfall. Behind-the-meter batteries can improve the value of available renewable energy but cannot recover electricity curtailed at the generator. _Teams weighing data center power contracts can track curtailment risk discussions like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [R1.5-billion to switch off the sun](https://daily.dev/posts/r1-5-billion-to-switch-off-the-sun-wq5sgt8kz) · TechCentral · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Multilateral wheeling will define the next phase of South Africa’s energy transition](https://daily.dev/posts/multilateral-wheeling-will-define-the-next-phase-of-south-africa-s-energy-transition-klrddvd7x) · TechCentral · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [South Africa’s energy future hinges on getting wheeling right](https://daily.dev/posts/south-africa-s-energy-future-hinges-on-getting-wheeling-right-xemgekklt) · TechCentral · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Data centers may face temporary power cuts to prevent blackouts on largest US grid](https://daily.dev/posts/data-centers-may-face-temporary-power-cuts-to-prevent-blackouts-on-largest-us-grid-m7byedust) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [FERC fast-tracks data centre grid connections](https://daily.dev/posts/ferc-fast-tracks-data-centre-grid-connections-xkywhk5kt) · The Next Web · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/south-africa-s-midday-power-glut-is-a-hidden-risk-for-wheeling-deals-odjypbmul) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"South Africa’s midday power glut is a hidden risk for wheeling deals","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/south-africa-s-midday-power-glut-is-a-hidden-risk-for-wheeling-deals-odjypbmul","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/south-africa-s-midday-power-glut-is-a-hidden-risk-for-wheeling-deals-odjypbmul"},"datePublished":"2026-10-15T06:07:28.625Z","dateModified":"2026-10-15T06:07:56.138Z","description":"South Africa's independent power producers face a regulatory gap: private wheeling deals that sell renewable power directly to buyers like data centres have no...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/e6eb70e8787544038fd078c02b88c044?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/e6eb70e8787544038fd078c02b88c044?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"TechCentral","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"TechCentral","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--RsqLDZrL--/f_auto/v1717745297/logos/techcentral","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/techcentral"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/south-africa-s-midday-power-glut-is-a-hidden-risk-for-wheeling-deals-odjypbmul","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"","timeRequired":"PT5M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"TechCentral","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/techcentral"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"South Africa’s midday power glut is a hidden risk for wheeling deals"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/south-africa-s-midday-power-glut-is-a-hidden-risk-for-wheeling-deals-odjypbmul#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Are private wheeling power deals in South Africa compensated when the grid curtails power due to oversupply?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"No, private wheeling and off-take generation deals have no regulated compensation mechanism for oversupply curtailment in South Africa. The regulator's approved mechanism, running from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2028, only covers curtailment caused by grid congestion in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape, explicitly excluding oversupply curtailment. For oversupply, compensation depends entirely on the buyer or the bilateral power purchase agreement. daily.dev surfaces regulatory updates like this for engineers tracking energy infrastructure risk in data center planning."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How much has IPP curtailment increased in South Africa in 2026?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Curtailment instructions to independent power producers rose roughly tenfold, from about 100 a month earlier in the year to more than a thousand a month, according to the South African Photovoltaic Industry Association. During winter 2026 curtailment reached up to 3GW on a particularly bad day. So far, Sapvia says all these instructions affected only state-procured section 34 projects, not private wheeling generation. 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