Construction has started on a 75MW solar power plant at Lethabo Power Station in the Free State. The project sits under Eskom’s Green division and carries a cost of about R1.2 billion.
This is not a standalone site. It is built inside an existing coal power station footprint. That matters. It means new generation is being added without waiting for new transmission corridors or new land approvals.
Once complete, the plant is expected to produce about 147GWh each year. That is enough to supply roughly 60,000 households.
The project also brings construction jobs and technical training into the local economy, with longer-term operational roles expected once the plant is running.
Government and Eskom leadership were present at the launch, including the Minister of Electricity and Energy, provincial leaders, and senior Eskom executives.
Dan Marokane, Eskom Group Chief Executive, linked the project to the recent stability of the grid, noting that the system has now gone over a year without loadshedding. He framed the moment as a shift from recovery to capacity expansion, with renewables entering an already stabilised system.
Within Eskom’s generation leadership, Bheki Nxumalo pointed to a clear operational logic: use existing coal plant infrastructure, grid connections, and technical capacity to bring new generation online faster, without building parallel systems.
Rivoningo Mnisi, leading renewables at Eskom, described the project as part of a broader move to diversify generation while keeping supply security intact.
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The Lethabo plant is one of 17 planned projects across Eskom sites, expected to collectively add about 6GW by 2030. The wider pipeline includes solar and storage projects across stations such as Majuba, Tutuka, Kendal, and Kusile.
Funding has been allocated through Eskom’s approved capital programme, with no additional external project finance required.
By Thuita Gatero, Managing Editor, Africa Digest News.
