Eskom has revealed a groundbreaking achievement with the inauguration of the largest Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project in South Africa, marking a milestone not only for the country but for the entire African continent.
The official unveiling took place at the Hex BESS site in Worcester, located in the Western Cape, yesterday.
The completion of the Hex BESS marks a significant milestone as the inaugural project within Eskom’s flagship BESS initiative, announced in July 2022 to address the strain on the national electricity grid. This strategic response aims to tackle South Africa’s persistent electricity challenges by augmenting storage capacity, reinforcing the grid, and diversifying the current energy generation mix.
Featuring large-scale utility batteries boasting a total daily capacity of 1,440MWh and a 60MW PV capacity, the project is a crucial component in enhancing the country’s energy infrastructure.
The Hex site, tailored to store 100MWh of energy, equivalent to powering a town like Mossel Bay or Howick for approximately five hours, is integral to Phase 1 of Eskom’s BESS endeavor. This phase involves installing around 833MWh of additional storage capacity across eight Eskom Distribution substation sites in KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Western Cape, and Northern Cape. Additionally, Phase 1 incorporates approximately 2MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity, further contributing to the diversification and resilience of South Africa’s energy landscape.
“We are grateful to the various funders of the Eskom BESS project, and to our construction partner Hyosung Heavy Industries. This is proof of what we can achieve when we work as a team and in collaboration with industry and local communities,” remarked Eskom’s Group Executive for Distribution, Monde Bala.
The BESS technology offers a versatile solution for improving overall grid performance and is in line with South Africa’s commitment to the just energy transition to a more resilient and sustainable energy future.
The initiative demonstrates Eskom’s commitment in finding innovative solutions and embracing new technologies in preparation for the new era in the energy distribution landscape.
“We are pioneering the implementation of the BESS technology, serving as a large-scale commercial project to validate the technology’s feasibility and benefits. The successful implementation will pave the way for wider adoption and possible export of the technology to other regions beyond the borders of South Africa,” said Eskom’s General Manager: Distribution, Operations Enablement, Velaphi Ntuli.
“The Hex project is a demonstration of what Eskom teams can do in finding alternative, innovative and lasting solutions in addressing the country’s electricity challenges,” said Eskom’s Group Executive for Generation, Bheki Nxumalo.
The Hex project benefited the local community of Worcester by employing about 250 local community members, supporting twelve early childhood centres with playground and educational material, donation of computers, donation of five hundred full school uniforms. Furthermore, other corporate social investment projects are to be executed before the end of March 2024.
Upon completion of the first Phase, Eskom will implement Phase 2 of the project which includes the installation of a further 144MW of storage capacity, equivalent to 616MWh at four Eskom Distribution sites and one Transmission site. The solar PV capacity in this phase will be 58MW.
The rollout of these technologies together with a disciplined execution of our Generation Recovery Plan which started in March 2023, and aimed at achieving energy availability factor of 70% by end March 2025, will give the country the most needed megawatts to address capacity constraints.
