South Africa is working to significantly expand its renewable energy capacity, but it is encountering challenges with its existing power grid. The grid is becoming saturated, and certain system conditions make it difficult to integrate all the electricity being produced. To tackle these issues, the government has decided to develop 4,600 MW of battery storage and 5,000 MW of gas power plants, totaling 9,600 MW, as part of the first phase of the Integrated Resource Plan 2025 (IRP 2025). This plan focuses on addressing immediate needs in energy storage, system flexibility, and the ability to quickly respond to demand changes. Battery storage is being introduced to solve the problem of curtailment, which happens when electricity cannot be fed into the grid due to infrastructure limitations or system conditions. Batteries can store excess electricity when the system is overloaded and release it when demand rises or renewable generation declines. They also help in quickly balancing the grid. South Africa has already started building storage projects, with five projects totaling 513 MW and 2,052 MWh reaching financial closure and entering the construction phase in June 2025. So far, three procedures have resulted in a total of 1,744 MW and 6,976 MWh of storage capacity. The government’s plan to build 4,600 MW of battery storage represents a major shift in scale. To support the integration of new renewable and storage capacities, South Africa plans to construct 14,000 km of high-voltage transmission lines over the next decade. The 5,000 MW of gas power is intended to provide electricity during periods of low renewable output or high demand, acting as a complement to variable renewable sources. The IRP 2025 projects 16 GW of gas capacity in the electricity mix by 2039. In the short term, the country is assessing proposals from four groups for an initial 2,000 MW of gas power, even though the first formal process for gas electricity production has not yet been finalized. Future projects will need to consider factors such as start-up times, adjustment capabilities, minimum operating levels, gas availability, delivery costs, port and pipeline infrastructure, grid connections, and commissioning schedules. The first phase of the IRP 2025 does not include new wind or solar power projects, which will be addressed in a later phase. This next phase must also include hybrid projects that combine renewable energy with storage, as well as the long-term development of pumped hydro storage. The overall plan aims to add more than 105 GW of new electricity capacity by 2039, with over half of that coming from renewable sources. Meanwhile, Eskom, the state-owned electricity utility, aims to achieve 32 GW of renewable capacity by 2040, up from less than 1 GW currently, while reducing its coal capacity from 39 GW to 18 GW.