Eskom reports that it has appointed five transformer companies to a panel of suppliers that will compete for upcoming contracts for a total of 101 large-scale transformers that will be installed over the coming four years as part of its Transmission Development Plan (TDP).

The suppliers were not immediately named in the statement, with Eskom saying only that most of the five suppliers were “local with an international footprint” and had been selected following an open tender issued on March 14.

The tender for the first batch of 26 power transformers has been issued to the suppliers and is expected to be awarded by July.

The current schedule requires this first batch of large-scale transformers to be delivered between 12 to 36 months from order placement to meet an urgent requirement to increase transmission capacity, which has emerged as a constraint to connecting new generation.

Eskom reports that contracts worth an estimated R7-billion will be awarded over the coming four years to unlock 28 GW of grid capacity, and it argues that the framework agreement has been designed to facilitate competition among the suppliers for various tenders over the coming years.

The TDP will be overseen in future by the National Transmission Company of South Africa (NTCSA), which is developing 47 transformer projects that have the potential to unlock 37 GW of grid connection capacity between 2025 and 2033.

These projects are at different stages of implementation in terms of design, procurement and construction.

Transmission MD Segomoco Scheppers reports that the aim is to be in a position to connect 53 GW of new generation capacity over the next ten years through the installation of 170 transformers, which will add 105 865 MVA of transformer capacity, alongside 14 218 km of new transmission lines.

The contracting strategy, Eskom states, has been designed to reduce lead times and promote localisation and enable the delivery of approximately 28 GW to the grid by the end of the 2028 financial year.

Eskom indicates that subsequent tenders will encourage higher levels of local content as the supply chain becomes more established.

“An initiative to accredit more companies both locally and internationally has resulted in the NTCSA already accrediting 22 factories for various classes of transformers,” Eskom reports.