Watts in Store

South Africa has an electricity crisis where national supply is often unable to meet demand, leading to regular, planned power cuts. This report aims to explain how energy storage can provide a wide range of benefits to a constrained power system, and why grid-located batteries emerge as a strategic priority in the short term.Watts in Store Part 1 is the first in a two-part series about energy storage in South Africa. It explores how energy storage can contribute to solving the electricity crisis in South Africa, summarizes seven key benefits for the country, and gives the status quo of current plans and projects. International trends point to the rapid growth in grid-located batteries, and Part 2 of this series will take a deeper look at grid-located batteries in South Africa: how to maximize benefits, minimize risks, and create a more enabling environment for deployment.