By Wendell Roelf.
South Africa’s first gas tender for private producers to generate 2,000 megawatts (MW) of power has closed without a preferred bidder being selected due to gas-supply challenges, the country’s ministry of energy and electricity said on Wednesday.
After many delays, the Independent Power Producers office received four bids in May totalling 2,830 MW.
The request for proposals required the bidders to provide assurances of gas supply and they were unable to do so, the minister of energy and electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said in a statement.
South Africa imports most of its gas from Mozambique, where declining volumes are threatening to disrupt domestic industrial users as supplies are expected to run dry in a few years.
Africa’s most advanced economy is pivoting toward gas to reduce its dependence on coal-fired power stations and is developing its first liquefied natural gas import terminal with ExxonMobil and Eskom as anchor clients.
There was no indication of when the next gas procurement window would open, although South Africa remains committed to its gas-to-power objectives.
© 2026 Reuters.