A brighter horizon for some homeowners
Eskom’s latest update to rooftop solar connection rules has been hailed as a breakthrough for South Africans eager to escape rising electricity prices and recurring load-shedding.
The power utility has scrapped the requirement for a professional engineer’s sign-off on many small-scale solar systems, allowing Installation Electricians (IE) or Master Installation Electricians (MIE) registered with the Department of Labour to approve installations for Eskom-direct customers.
The change trims red tape and cuts thousands of rands in compliance costs, making legal grid-tied solar installations far easier for households served directly by Eskom.
It also aligns with Eskom’s stated goal of accelerating safe, legal embedded generation as part of the national drive toward energy resilience and decentralisation.
“We want to make it as simple, safe, and cost-effective as possible for customers to connect legally, while ensuring grid stability,” Eskom said in a statement quoted by BusinessTech (28 Oct 2025).
The “big catch” — major cities left out
The relief, however, does not apply to households connected through municipal distributors such as the City of Johannesburg, Cape Town, Tshwane, or eThekwini.
Those residents must still obtain sign-off from an ECSA-registered professional engineer or technologist — a process that adds both cost and delay.
This creates an uneven landscape:
• In Eskom-supplied towns and rural areas, homeowners can move quickly to install legal rooftop solar systems.
• In major metros, households remain bound by the old, engineer-approval rules — sometimes adding R5 000–R15 000 to total project costs and weeks to approval timelines.
Municipalities argue the stricter requirement ensures grid protection and technical safety. Yet, critics say the dual-rule framework undermines national consistency and slows urban solar adoption where demand is highest.
NERSA’s oversight and the regulatory maze
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) still requires all embedded generation systems (connected to the national or municipal grid) to be registered — even when no power is exported.
Only truly off-grid systems that operate in isolation are exempt.
This layered compliance structure means an average homeowner must navigate both Eskom’s technical requirements and NERSA’s registration process, and in many cities, municipal permitting as well.
Energy analysts warn that fragmented standards could stall the very decentralised generation boom South Africa needs to stabilise supply.
Implications for investors and installers
1. Market acceleration in Eskom-supply areas
Installers serving Eskom-direct customers can expect a surge in demand, particularly in Gauteng’s peri-urban zones, Limpopo, the Free State and Mpumalanga — regions where Eskom supplies households directly. Lower soft costs mean more systems become financially viable, especially after the 2025/26 ~12.7% electricity tariff increase.
2. Uneven regulatory risk
For investors or national solar providers, the divide between Eskom-supplied and municipal markets complicates expansion planning. Business models must account for differing sign-off, metering, and export-credit structures in each municipality.
3. Policy harmonisation opportunity
Industry associations such as SAPVIA and SEA are urging municipalities to align their SSEG standards with Eskom’s simplified approach. A unified framework would reduce compliance duplication and unlock economies of scale for the rooftop sector.
4. Positive signal for the broader energy transition
Eskom’s easing of rules aligns with its wider initiatives — including the rollout of 6.2 million smart meters by 2027 and plans to eliminate load-reduction for 1.7 million customers. Together, these steps aim to modernise the grid and enable distributed generation at scale.
Economic context — tariffs and fiscal backdrop
With NERSA-approved tariff hikes pushing household electricity costs above R4.18 per kWh, rooftop solar economics are improving.
Households consuming 600 kWh a month can now recover a standard 5 kW system’s cost in roughly three to four years, depending on export-credit rates.
At the macro level, stronger-than-expected SARS tax receipts (R18 billion above forecast) slightly ease fiscal pressure, but SARB Governor Lesetja Kganyago’s warnings about administered-price inflation underscore the political tension between keeping tariffs “cost-reflective” and controlling consumer inflation.
What to watch next
• Municipal alignment: Will major metros adopt Eskom’s relaxed sign-off model, or maintain engineer-only approval?
• NERSA consultation (13 Nov 2025): Industry awaits the regulator’s decision on Eskom’s proposed generator-losses charge, which could alter export credit values for solar producers.
• Implementation pace: Eskom’s ability to enforce safety and registration while scaling simplified rules will determine whether the policy drives genuine rooftop growth or invites new compliance confusion.
Bottom line
Eskom’s simplified rooftop-solar rules are a welcome but partial victory for South African households.
They cut bureaucracy, lower costs, and open the door to faster adoption — but only for those outside major metropolitan grids.
For investors and installers, opportunity beckons in Eskom-direct markets, while urban deployment remains tangled in outdated municipal regulations.
Unless municipalities follow Eskom’s lead, the “big catch” may continue to cast a long shadow over South Africa’s solar revolution.
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In every modern industry, energy is not just a utility—it is the core enabler of operations, automation, data processing, and service delivery. As industries grow more digitized, the dependence on reliable, scalable, and clean energy increases. This article examines the real-world relationship between energy and digital technologies, and provides a data-driven answer to the question: Can industries live without energy in the future?
1. Digital Technologies Are Energy Technologies
From AI systems and cloud infrastructure to robotics and blockchain, digital technologies function through continuous electrical power. Even low-power devices—like IoT sensors—rely on batteries, grid connections, or ambient energy harvesting.
Case Example: Amazon Web Services (AWS)
AWS data centers, which support major parts of the internet and global commerce, consume approximately 20 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity annually—more than some small countries. Without stable energy, cloud computing services, AI applications, and global logistics systems would fail instantly.
2. Industrial Automation: Dependent on Power Continuity
Manufacturing, supply chains, mining, and chemical processing depend on digitally controlled machinery and sensor-driven production lines. These systems require zero-interruption power, especially for safety and precision.
Real-World Example: Siemens Digital Factories
Siemens operates fully automated factories using digital twins and AI-controlled robotics. These facilities rely on smart grids and redundant energy sources, including on-site solar plus battery systems. A few seconds of power loss can halt production, damage machinery, and result in high-cost downtime.
3. Telecommunications and Financial Systems
mobile network, internet service, or digital banking platform can run without constant energy. Every mobile tower, server, and transaction requires electricity.
Case Example: MTN and Vodacom Base Stations
In areas facing frequent blackouts, mobile operators install diesel generators or solar-battery hybrids at base stations. Without these, network coverage collapses—affecting millions of users and critical services like mobile money, emergency calls, and business communications.
4. Energy-IT Feedback Loop
As digital technologies require energy to operate, they also help optimize energy usage through smart grids, predictive maintenance, and energy analytics platforms. This creates a closed loop where energy and digital systems are co-dependent.
Real-World Example: Enel’s Smart Grid Infrastructure
Enel uses AI, edge computing, and IoT to balance load and predict failures in its European energy networks. The system prevents blackouts and improves energy efficiency by up to 25%, proving that energy infrastructure itself is now a digital system.
5. There are some Industries that cannot Survive Without Energy Going Forward
From agriculture using AI drones, to hospitals running AI diagnostic platforms, to logistics firms depending on GPS and blockchain—all of these systems cease to function without energy. Even short-term outages can result in:
Revenue loss
Data corruption
Safety hazards
Reputation damage
For industries seeking resilience and scalability, energy independence and management are now as critical as cybersecurity.
Conclusion
Energy is non-negotiable. In a digital economy, it is as essential as data itself. The future of every industry—whether health, finance, education, or manufacturing—relies not just on energy access, but on smart, uninterrupted, and clean energy systems.
The answer is clear: some of the many industry can not function, let alone grow, without energy in a digital-first world. As technology evolves, energy will remain its invisible backbone—without which, the entire system fails.
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digital technologies, energy, industries
The fusion of Energy and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping industries, economies, and even human lifestyles at a speed never seen before. It’s not just about automating power grids or predicting energy demand—it’s about redefining how we generate, distribute, and consume energy in ways that were once impossible. The impact is so profound that entire sectors will rise and fall based on how they embrace AI-driven energy solutions.
The AI Energy Revolution: More Than Just Automation
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ai, energy, windfarms
As urbanization accelerates worldwide, green buildings are emerging as the cornerstone of sustainable development, revolutionizing the property industry and shaping the future of smart cities. Africa, particularly South Africa, has a unique opportunity to integrate energy efficiency and innovative design into urban planning, ensuring long-term economic and environmental benefits.
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property innovation, smart cities
The energy sector is undergoing a historic transformation driven by the need to combat climate change, meet growing global energy demands, and ensure equitable access to resources. As we look ahead, several key trends are shaping the future of energy, from the rise of renewables and energy storage innovations to the deployment of advanced digital technologies. Let’s delve into these trends and explore what they mean for the energy landscape.
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The global energy landscape, as outlined in the Energy Institute's 2024 report, is undergoing a major transformation, driven by the urgency of addressing climate change and ensuring energy security. The shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources is accelerating, but storage technologies like TES are vital for making this transition successful.
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As the world grapples with the complex and ever-evolving challenges of energy security, climate change, and sustainable development, one of the most important resources for understanding our current trajectory is the Energy Institute's Statistical Review of World Energy 2024, with additional insights provided by Our World in Data. This resource offers a comprehensive analysis of global energy consumption, production, and technological trends, shedding light on the pressing need for innovation and transition to more sustainable energy systems.
In the context of South Africa, these global trends present both challenges and opportunities. South Africa is heavily reliant on coal for electricity generation, making the transition to a greener energy system crucial for reducing its carbon footprint. But transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources like solar, wind, and innovative technologies such as Thermal Energy Storage (TES) will require strategic investment and robust technological adoption.
Global Energy Trends: A Snapshot
According to the Energy Institute's Statistical Review of World Energy 2024, the global energy landscape is evolving at a rapid pace. Renewable energy sources, particularly solar and wind, continue to dominate new energy capacity additions. Despite this, fossil fuels—coal, oil, and natural gas—remain the largest contributors to global energy consumption, though their share has gradually declined as countries adopt cleaner alternatives.
Key takeaways from the 2024 report include:
• Global energy consumption continues to rise, driven primarily by developing economies in Asia.
• Coal consumption is still significant, especially in countries like India and China, but is slowly being replaced by renewable energy sources.
• Renewable energy is growing at a record pace, with solar and wind leading the charge.
• Natural gas remains a key player in the energy transition, serving as a bridge fuel in many regions.
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energy solutions, renewables
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