South Africa is taking its energy transition directly to one of the world’s biggest clean energy investors. At the South Africa–China Electricity & Energy Investment Conference in Beijing, Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa presented Chinese companies with what is arguably the country’s largest investment opportunity yet, a pipeline worth more than R2.2 trillion built around the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) 2025. The message was straightforward: South Africa has the projects, China has the technology, capital and manufacturing capacity to help deliver them.
The investment case presented in Beijing goes well beyond renewable power plants. Under IRP 2025, South Africa is seeking investment across the entire electricity value chain through to 2039, including:
- Around R2.2–2.3 trillion in investable energy opportunities.
- Approximately 105 GW of new generation capacity.
- Nearly 14,500 kilometres of new transmission lines.
- A R440 billion transmission expansion programme needed to connect new renewable projects to the national grid.
Together, these projects form one of the largest energy infrastructure programmes currently planned on the African continent. To move beyond broad policy discussions, government introduced a curated investment book containing 96 energy projects. Rather than asking investors to search for opportunities themselves, South Africa is presenting a portfolio of projects designed to be investment-ready and commercially bankable.
The portfolio is intended to attract:
- Renewable energy developers.
- Equipment manufacturers.
- Grid infrastructure companies.
- Institutional investors.
- Development finance institutions.
The objective is to shorten the path between investor interest and project execution. China already plays a significant role in South Africa’s renewable energy sector. Its companies are deeply embedded across the solar, wind and electricity supply chain.
Examples include:
- China Energy Engineering Corporation, which constructed the 240 MW Mooi Plaats Solar Plant in the Northern Cape.
- Goldwind, whose turbines power several South African wind farms, including projects in the Western Cape and Mpumalanga.
- Chinese manufacturers that dominate the country’s imports of solar panels and inverters.
Chinese expertise is also becoming increasingly important in transmission infrastructure. State-owned companies such as State Grid International and China Southern Power Grid International have emerged among firms interested in South Africa’s multi-billion-rand transmission expansion programme. For South Africa, this existing presence reduces execution risk while providing access to proven technology and competitive manufacturing.
One of the strongest themes emerging from the conference is that South Africa’s biggest challenge is no longer simply generating electricity. The country must also expand the grid fast enough to carry that electricity from renewable-rich regions to industrial centres. This is why the R440 billion transmission programme features so prominently in the investment pipeline. Without new transmission infrastructure, many planned wind and solar projects cannot be connected, regardless of how competitive they are. Grid expansion has therefore become as important as renewable generation itself.
The conference also demonstrates how South Africa is attempting to align policy with private capital. The approach combines three elements:
- Policy certainty through IRP 2025.
- A defined pipeline of investment-ready projects.
- International finance and technology, particularly from Chinese partners.
Rather than treating the energy transition purely as a climate initiative, government is presenting it as a large-scale industrial and infrastructure investment opportunity. Energy cooperation also forms part of broader economic relations between South Africa and China. Recent bilateral agreements have expanded collaboration in areas such as:
- Renewable energy deployment.
- Grid modernisation.
- Local manufacturing.
- Skills development.
- Industrial investment.
The Beijing conference builds on these existing partnerships by shifting the focus from cooperation agreements to specific projects seeking capital. South Africa’s electricity transition requires enormous amounts of private investment. Government alone cannot finance the scale of infrastructure needed to modernise the power system. By presenting a structured investment pipeline backed by IRP 2025, South Africa is signalling to global investors and particularly to China, that the next phase of its energy transition will be driven through commercially viable, investment-ready projects.
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South Africa is offering Chinese investors one of the largest energy investment opportunities on the continent. With more than R2.2 trillion worth of planned generation and transmission projects, an investment book of 96 bankable projects, and an established track record of Chinese participation in the country’s renewable sector, the government is positioning international partnerships as a critical driver of its long-term energy transition.
