CEO Voice - June 2026
Dear Members,
As we conclude Youth Month, I am reminded that the future of South Africa's energy transition will ultimately be determined by the people we equip to lead it, reinforcing the message behind this year's Global Wind Day theme, "Our Wind, Our Community." Together, they remind us that building a sustainable energy future requires investing not only in infrastructure, but also in the skills, opportunities and communities that will power it.
Beyond delivering clean electricity, the renewable energy sector has a responsibility to develop a skilled, capable and inclusive workforce that can sustain an industrial economy for decades to come. South Africa has both the resource potential and the talent to demonstrate global leadership in building a just and competitive clean energy economy.
June also provided an opportunity for the industry to engage on the continental stage as the South African Wind Energy Association proudly served as the official wind industry partner at the Africa Energy Forum (AEF) in Cape Town. Under the theme "Building Africa's Industrialised Future", governments, utilities, investors, developers, financiers, technology providers and industry leaders came together to examine Africa's evolving energy landscape and the role that infrastructure investment, market reform, transmission expansion and regional cooperation will play in accelerating economic growth.
For South Africa, the forum reinforced an important reality: our renewable energy ambitions are no longer constrained by resource availability or investor appetite, but increasingly by the pace of implementation.
As we reach the halfway point of the year, the publication of the Final Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) 2025 has provided one of the clearest long-term planning signals the wind industry has received in recent years. The plan outlines a deployment pathway of approximately 43 GW of wind capacity by 2042, reaffirming wind energy as a central pillar of South Africa's future electricity mix.
Planning certainty, however, must now translate into delivery certainty.
The focus for the industry has shifted from debating ambition to enabling implementation. Grid expansion, transmission investment, permitting efficiency, procurement certainty and regulatory execution will determine whether the objectives contained in the IRP become operational projects that deliver electricity, create jobs, attract investment and strengthen local manufacturing.
Ministerial Intervention for Wind Industry Solutions
Recognising this imperative, the Minister of Electricity & Energy, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, challenged the wind industry to present practical solutions that will support the successful implementation of the IRP 2025 wind allocation at Windaba 2025. As we prepare to make this submission, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our members and the leadership of our Standing Committees for their commitment in developing SAWEA's industry submission. Their collective expertise and willingness to work collaboratively have produced a set of practical, industry-led recommendations aimed at accelerating implementation.
This process has reinforced the importance of industry cohesion and demonstrated what can be achieved when the sector speaks with one voice. More importantly, it has shown that delivering South Africa's wind ambitions will require partnership, shared accountability and sustained collaboration - one gigawatt at a time.
The implementation agenda extends beyond project delivery. It also requires the electricity market itself to evolve in step with South Africa's growing renewable energy fleet. In this regard, the continued implementation of the South African Wholesale Electricity Market (SAWEM), under the leadership of the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA), represents another significant milestone, with the live market launch targeted for the third quarter of 2026.
SAWEM marks the most significant transformation of South Africa's electricity market in a generation. As the sector transitions from a single-buyer model to a competitive, multi-market environment, the way renewable energy projects are financed, contracted, dispatched and managed will fundamentally change. For wind energy developers, investors and asset owners, preparedness for SAWEM is therefore no longer simply a compliance exercise - it is a strategic business imperative that will shape commercial competitiveness and long-term investment decisions.
As we now turn our attention to Windaba 2026, our collective priority should remain clear: ensuring that South Africa's policy commitments translate into implementation. Success will ultimately not be measured by the plans we publish or the announcements we make, but by the projects we connect to the grid, the industries we strengthen, the young people we equip with future-ready skills, and the long-term economic value we create for South Africa.
The opportunity before us is significant. Realising it will require continued collaboration between government, industry, financiers, network operators and local communities to ensure that every policy commitment is translated into tangible progress on the ground.
The foundations are increasingly in place. The task before us is to maintain momentum and continue working together to ensure that South Africa's wind sector delivers on its full potential.
Warm Regards,
Titania Stefanus Zincke
Interim CEO
SAWEA Newsletter June 2026
