The power supply has stabilized, and Eskom has finally freed up its resources to find new customers. The South African power grid, which has been tight for many years, has recently taken a breath. This state-owned power giant has turned its attention to data centers that operate day and night, and a new 400 megawatt electricity business is brewing in the wind of Cape Town.

Power supply, take a breath

South African state-owned power company Eskom is turning its data centers into new customers. According to MiningWeekly on October 6th, Minister of Electricity and Energy Ramokapa stated at the Windaba conference in Cape Town that Eskom will announce measures to support data center construction, and the government believes that South Africa is expected to strive for 400 megawatts of related demand. According to Eskom's announcement on October 2nd, South Africa has not experienced nationwide power rationing due to insufficient power generation for 504 consecutive days. However, about 202600 customers are still affected by local distribution network restrictions, and the power supply situation of each site needs to be confirmed separately.

There are multiple electrical gates in the computer room

At the same time as power generation is restored, customer electricity consumption is decreasing. In the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026, Eskom sold 6.2% less electricity than the previous year, with only 178 terawatt hours sold. Industrial customers purchased 9.7 terawatt hours less, and the company estimates that there will be a surplus of 23 gigawatts of power supply capacity in the coming years. The surplus electricity needs to be sent to the computer room, and the transmission and distribution grid is a necessary path. The capacity of the station, the timing of power transmission, and who will bear the cost of expansion all directly affect the construction period and budget. South African data center operator Teraco provided a reference. In November 2024, it announced the construction of JB7 east of Johannesburg, with a designed critical load of 40 megawatts and a shared power supply capacity of 68 megavolt amperes. The connection design separates active power and apparent power. Starting from April 2026, Eskom has also increased the average electricity price for direct supply customers by 8.76% for the 202627 fiscal year.

Find the right owner and provide a quote again

Chinese enterprises have already established a foundation in this area. In March 2026, Huawei signed a strategic memorandum of cooperation with South African telecommunications operator MTN Group, focusing on cooperation in areas such as artificial intelligence data centers and fiber optic networks. Funds and procurement also have their own entities. Teraco disclosed in the JB7 announcement that it has obtained an 8 billion rand syndicated loan from institutions such as Absa for JB7 and other construction and renewable energy financing. For Chinese enterprises preparing to enter South Africa, equipment quotations should be based on the owner and purchaser. Power supply and distribution, UPS, and cooling manufacturers can first coordinate with the data center operator, design consultant, and designated general contractor to obtain design loads, equipment interfaces, and acceptance requirements. Energy developers need to determine the purchasing entity, and Eskom's virtual grid products require a signed power purchase agreement and valid registration or license from the power generator. Keywords: data center, South African power

The basis for Chinese enterprises to arrange production capacity and personnel is clear ownership, deliverable access, authorized procurement, and agreed upon acceptance and payment. The most useful information for Eskom's next steps will be which sites can be connected, when they can be connected, and under what commercial conditions they can be connected.Editor/Min Jing