--- title: The giant batteries coming to South Africa’s grid description: South Africa's energy minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has announced a 9.6GW determination for new generation capacity split between 4.6GW of battery storage and... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/the-giant-batteries-coming-to-south-africa-s-grid-ahyqqfmuf twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: The giant batteries coming to South Africa’s grid | daily.dev og:description: South Africa's energy minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has announced a 9.6GW determination for new generation capacity split between 4.6GW of battery storage and... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/the-giant-batteries-coming-to-south-africa-s-grid-ahyqqfmuf og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/AHYQQfmuf.png og:image:alt: The giant batteries coming to South Africa’s grid 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. # The giant batteries coming to South Africa’s grid **[TechCentral](https://daily.dev/sources/techcentral)** · 5 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary South Africa's energy minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has announced a 9.6GW determination for new generation capacity split between 4.6GW of battery storage and 5GW of gas-fired power, with no new wind or solar in this round. The move aims to address a daytime electricity surplus that has caused curtailment of up to 3,000MW in a single day, costing money under take-or-pay IPP contracts. Likely investment is estimated above R90-billion, nearly nine times the 513MW procured in the first battery bid window. Gas carries price and currency risks tied to the Middle East conflict. A future determination will cover wind, solar, and pumped storage, and the government is also exploring bitcoin mining (1-3GW within two years) as a flexible load to absorb surplus power. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How much battery storage has South Africa approved for its power grid? South Africa's energy minister approved a determination for 4.6GW of battery storage alongside 5GW of gas-fired power, totaling 9.6GW of new capacity. This is almost nine times the 513MW procured in the first battery storage bid window, which attracted R15.4-billion in investment. The new allocation is expected to draw upwards of R90-billion in investment. _Those tracking grid-scale battery storage rollouts can follow policy and investment updates like this on daily.dev._ ### Why is South Africa's power grid experiencing daytime electricity curtailment? Eskom's generation recovery combined with rapid growth in private solar and wind generation has created a daytime surplus averaging more than 4GW, forcing grid operators to curtail generators because the grid cannot absorb the power. Curtailment reached up to 3,000MW in a single day during winter 2026 and became a near-daily occurrence, while take-or-pay contracts still require payment for the unused power. _Developers and analysts following renewable grid integration issues can track stories like this on daily.dev._ ### Is South Africa considering bitcoin mining to help manage its electricity grid? Yes, South Africa's energy minister confirmed talks are underway to use bitcoin mining as a flexible load to absorb surplus grid power, targeting 1-3GW of capacity within two years by repurposing existing power stations. This is far larger than the roughly 10MW to 500MW of initial demand cited by two mining companies in Nersa's separate consultation on a proposed Eskom pilot tariff for crypto miners. _Anyone weighing energy demand and crypto mining infrastructure decisions can follow related developments on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [R16-billion solar bet exposes South Africa’s grid crisis](https://daily.dev/posts/r16-billion-solar-bet-exposes-south-africa-s-grid-crisis-1kwkxaehc) · TechCentral · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Batteries are now cheaper than natural gas turbines used at many data centers](https://daily.dev/posts/batteries-are-now-cheaper-than-natural-gas-turbines-used-at-many-data-centers-kwo8rzlej) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Ramokgopa bullish on energy outlook as new projects get green light](https://daily.dev/posts/ramokgopa-bullish-on-energy-outlook-as-new-projects-get-green-light-djxc5iktp) · TechCentral · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Eskom Green to build 32GW of renewables by 2040](https://daily.dev/posts/eskom-green-to-build-32gw-of-renewables-by-2040-u0hdtavr3) · TechCentral · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/the-giant-batteries-coming-to-south-africa-s-grid-ahyqqfmuf) ```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":"The giant batteries coming to South Africa’s grid","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-giant-batteries-coming-to-south-africa-s-grid-ahyqqfmuf","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-giant-batteries-coming-to-south-africa-s-grid-ahyqqfmuf"},"datePublished":"2026-10-07T09:36:24.790Z","dateModified":"2026-10-07T09:36:48.852Z","description":"South Africa's energy minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has announced a 9.6GW determination for new generation capacity split between 4.6GW of battery storage and...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/522a450d25cdf138ba94fc81cdb01927?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/522a450d25cdf138ba94fc81cdb01927?_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/the-giant-batteries-coming-to-south-africa-s-grid-ahyqqfmuf","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":"The giant batteries coming to South Africa’s grid"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-giant-batteries-coming-to-south-africa-s-grid-ahyqqfmuf#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How much battery storage has South Africa approved for its power grid?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"South Africa's energy minister approved a determination for 4.6GW of battery storage alongside 5GW of gas-fired power, totaling 9.6GW of new capacity. 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