South Africa has named seven pre-qualified bidders from an initial list of 17 respondents to the prequalification phase of the country's inaugural independent transmission project (ITP) programme, a request for proposals (RfP) for which will be launched in the second half of 2026.

The companies have been prequalified to bid to build 1 164-km of powerlines and associated substation infrastructure across seven preselected corridors, and the projects are expected to have a combined investment value of about $1-billion.

Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa confirmed that all of the prequalified consortia are led by international companies that were able to prove prior experience in building such projects elsewhere.

Such experience was a criteria included in the request for qualification (RfQ) documentation, which has been criticised for excluding local companies.

Ramokgopa promised, however, that subsequent ITP procurement phases would include majority South African project owners, while South African and black empowerment equity participation was still a qualifying criteria for the inaugural bid window.

Efforts would also be made to ensure local content even during the first phase in line with localisation designations approved by the South African government, as well as to ensure the participation of local construction, operations and maintenance companies.

No clarity was provided as to what legal framework would be used to enforce the designations, however.

It was also confirmed that price would be the main evaluation criteria.

Ramokgopa insisted that South African participation would be progressively increased in subsequent phases, as government had identified the multidecade grid roll-out as a major industrialisation opportunity for the country.

The seven companies eligible to participate in the RfP phase were identified as:

the Adani Power Middle East-Momentous Energy Consortium, led by Adani Power Middle East Limited, based in the United Arab Emirates; the AREF Cobra Transmission Consortium, led by the South African arm of Grupo Cobra, of Spain;Consortium Pulse Infrastructure, led by Celeo Redes, of Spain;the EITP Consortium, led by Okavango Projects SA;the State Grid Consortium, led by the State Grid International Development Company, of China;The Hyperion Consortium, led by the South African arm of French multinational EDF; andthe Transmission Africa Consortium, led by China Southern Power Grid International.

The seven prequalified companies all responded to the RfQ launched on July 31, 2025, with a response submission date of September 23, 2025.

The evaluation process, conducted by an independent bid evaluation committee, took place at the IPP Office, which has been mandated to oversee the inaugural bid window.

Ramokgopa said the ITP programme formed part of a drive to expand, modernise and strengthen South Africa's transmission network through sustained private sector participation.

However, he also stressed that the National Transmission Company South Africa, which is set to remain an Eskom Holding subsidiary, was also continuing to build grid infrastructure in line with the Transmission Development Plan (TDP).

The ten-year TDP envisages the construction of 14 500 km of new powerlines and 133 000 MVA of additional transformers by 2034 at an estimated cost of more than R400-billion.

The RfP for the initial ITP projects has also been delayed to coincide with the launch of a new Credit Guarantee Vehicle (CGV), which will enable the projects to proceed in the absence of National Treasury guarantees.

The CGV, which will be a private non-life insurance company, regulated by the Prudential Authority, is scheduled to be launched in July 2026, with the National Treasury having already announced that it will inject seed equity of R2-billion into the vehicle, giving it a minority shareholding.

The balance of the equity is expected to be source from development finance institutions with the timing of its lau...