Agence Française de Développement (AFD) has signed a €6.5 million (ZAR 125 million) grant agreement with Eskom to support the development of the Tubatse pumped storage project in Limpopo’s Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality. The Tubatse project, designated as a priority under South Africa’s Infrastructure Programme, will provide a 1.5GW capacity (4 x 375 MW units) and 21 GWh of storage.
The European Union, through AFD, has allocated this funding to assist Eskom in addressing the challenges of intermittent power from renewable energy sources. With South Africa’s ongoing transition toward renewable energy, large-scale storage solutions like Tubatse pumped storage project are essential for integrating wind and photovoltaic power into the grid.
“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.
Marokane added that Eskom has a pipeline of more than 20GW of clean energy projects aimed at diversifying South Africa’s energy mix and reducing fossil fuel emissions. “Over the next 3 years, we have an ambition to execute at least 2 GW 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,” he stated.
Eskom plans to develop Tubatse as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and will seek a Transaction Advisor in early 2026 to conduct a feasibility study. This advisor, funded by the AFD grant, will help Eskom find a private partner for the project’s implementation, targeted for completion between 2025 and 2033.
Sandra Kramer, EU Ambassador to South Africa, noted the importance of the collaboration, saying, “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 realize its ambitions for a greener tomorrow.”
AFD’s Southern Africa Regional Director, Audrey Rojkoff, commented on the funding’s significance: “AFD’s funding to Eskom reaffirms our commitment to support Eskom’s efforts to diversify its energy mix and maintain energy security, which will ultimately strengthen its capacity to respond to the growing energy needs and economic growth of South Africa.”
