As energy costs rise in South Africa, energy Wheeling is a cost-effective solution for businesses looking to combat volatile electricity tariff hikes. As part of SolarAfrica’s Electricity 2.0 Virtual Power Ecosystem, Wheeling allows companies to replace Eskom power with greener, cheaper electricity generated from SolarAfrica’s solar farms and delivered through the national grid. This electricity is 100% green and comes at a kWh tariff that is up to 50% cheaper than Eskom’s. This approach provides substantial savings and enhances sustainability.
Energy Wheeling lets businesses buy renewable power from Independent Power Producers (IPPs) like SolarAfrica through the existing grid. It requires zero installation on the business’s side and offers renewable energy at scale unlike anything they could usually produce on-site. This setup brings cleaner, affordable energy directly to companies.
To understand how Wheeling can offer a strategic approach to cost savings we need to take a step back and see how businesses have typically approached renewable energy. As loadshedding and energy instability grew over the years, they started turning towards on-site solar and on-site batteries to combat these issues. With the energy landscape evolving even further (and loadshedding subsiding) businesses now face a new electricity crisis: prices. On-site systems alone can’t offer the amount of power needed to offset expensive Eskom power, which is why taking a layered, strategic approach to creating your own energy mix can future-proof your business.
It’s no secret that battery storage has become a crucial power solution during loadshedding. Still, battery storage’s benefits go beyond being a backup system when the grid goes down.
Battery storage offers several ways to make the most of your tariff structure. If you’re on a time-of-use tariff, you need to find a way to make the best of peak and off-peak times. With battery storage, you can employ Time of Use Arbitrage to store electricity during off-peak hours (when rates are lower) and discharge it during peak hours (when rates are higher). If your battery storage is connected to a solar energy system, you can also store any excess power generated during the day in the battery.
If your tariff works according to maximum demand – in other words, it’s measured on the peak of your maximum demand or notified maximum demand – then you want to find a way of avoiding these unnecessary and often uncontrollable peaks. This is where peak shaving comes in: you strategically discharge your battery during high-demand periods to level out (shave) any possible peaks.
This strategic approach ensures businesses access the cheapest, most reliable power for their unique needs – whatever the source may be.
In South Africa, businesses sign a wheeling agreement, known as a Virtual Power Purchase Agreement (VPPA) with an IPP to buy wheeling. These agreements can range from 5 to 25 years, giving businesses the flexibility they need to buy enough power to scale with their growth.
Did you know? SolarAfrica will begin wheeling power in 2026. Our first phase is available on a first-come-first served basis. You can check out how to secure your VPPA with us here.
SolarAfrica combines decades of renewable energy expertise with a customer-first approach, helping businesses cut costs and achieve sustainability goals through tailored energy solutions.
On the Wheeling side of things we are already in construction phase for our first 342 MW of our 1 GW solar farm, SunCentral, that will wheel power as early as 2026. We have several other utility-scale projects in the pipeline across the country, so watch this space for more!
Wheeling is a smart, strategic step towards affordable, sustainable energy. With us, businesses can access clean energy that lowers costs and enhances efficiency.
