Africa-Press – Eswatini. The government swiftly intervened after Eswatini Electricity Company (EEC) lost about E247 million due to importation of energy from neighbouring countries, especially South Africa’s ESKOM.
According to an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment and Comprehensive Mitigation Plan for the proposed development of a 96MW Green Power Plant, at Edwaleni, Manzini , compiled by the Eswatini Environmental Authority, (EEA), interested and affected parties are requested to submit comments and/or objections as per the Environmental Assessment Regulations of 2022 and deadline for submission is April 17, 2026.
The Eswatini’s electricity supply relies heavily on imports from Eskom, South Africa, and from EDM, Mozambique. According to the EEC 2025 annual report, the country imports over two-thirds of its power. 64% of the imports come from Eskom, as Eskom has its own challenges and their supply agreement with EEC had ended in August 2025 and re-negotiated. The renewal of the supply agreement was expected to bring increased tariffs for EEC and the Eswatini consumers. The country has one of the highest electrification rates in Africa, approximately 85%, albeit reliability issues and has ongoing rural electrification projects to further increase the accessibility. According to the National Energy Master Plan, the aim is to reach 50% renewable energy, which is solar, hydro, biomass, wind, by 2030.
“The EEC takes cognizance of the fact that dependence on imported energy threatens the security, particularly as it is directly in competition with the supplying countries’ citizens, citizens of South Africa and Mozambique. This project development process proposes to generate 96 megawatts of energy to the grid. The volatility of the importation costs has dented the profitability of the service entity EEC, leading to a loss in excess of E247 million compared to E69 million in 2020. The generation of the 96MW energy at competitive rates with a fixed annual increase over the 20-year period alleviates the supply as well as cost volatility to the consumer,” reads the EEA report.
The green plant will be developed in a semi-rural community area of Ngonini in the Nhlambeni Inkhundla, wherein the community is laid back, has high unemployment, has aged persons, and some child-headed households. The community has survived by subsistence farming, and they have used the project site as grazing land evidenced by a well-used cattle route. The site is also very close to the D92 road leading to an EEC depot and settlement, Dwaleni Power Station, and the paramilitary camp of the police service. There is little commercial activity here, and such a development will raise interest in passerby, the youth, and tourists passing through. The risk of community safety and health requires barriers to enter the site/plant. This risk is brought about by the high voltage generation and possible incidental leaks of the CO2s and commercial vehicles. SUM Eswatini is committed to active engagement of the community on a regular and ongoing basis.
SUM Eswatini has developed an environmental risk management plan, safety, health, and quality policy, and a stakeholder engagement plan specifically for the project as a proactive means to enduring risk assessment and management and periodic stakeholder engagement to forge a harmonized relation in the community of stakeholders.
The proposed generation plant by SUM Eswatini came at a time when the import agreement between EEC and Eskom had come to an end in August 2025. The agreement , now renewed, further threatened the energy security of Eswatini.
The renewal of the supply agreement was expected to bring increased tariffs for the distribution entity and the Eswatini consumers. EEC is committed to diversifying energy mix and to alleviate climate change impacts through concerted efforts by strategically transitioning their generation portfolio towards cleaner, renewable energy sources such as solar and hydro and positioning themselves as a progressive and responsible contributor to a sustainable future. The entity thus aligns with equally committed entities in its bid to self-reliance. The proposed plant is a fossil-free base load power generation system that uses modular supercritical carbon dioxide, CO2, generation via concentrated solar heat, sand storage and induction heating. The plant will allow for the avoidance of 757,000 CO2 annually contributing to a greatly reduced carbon footprint. The proposed plant will generate 96MW and feed 96MW into the grid through the Dwaleni II substation and interconnector for imports. This substation is located approximately 500 meters from the proposed plant site.
