- This initiative is part of Eskom’s flagship Battery Energy Storage System project to alleviate the ongoing pressure on the national electricity grid.
- The Hex BESS boasts a total capacity of 1,440MWh per day and a 60MW Photovoltaic capacity.
Eskom, South Africa’s state-owned electricity supplier, has taken a monumental step in addressing the country’s electricity crisis by launching the Hex Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) in Worcester, Western Cape. This pioneering project, the largest in Africa, will bolster the national electricity grid and mark a pivotal shift in the nation’s energy landscape.
On Thursday, Eskom officially opened the Hex BESS site at Worcester, a landmark project for South Africa and the entire African continent. This initiative, first announced in July 2022, is part of Eskom’s flagship BESS project to alleviate the ongoing pressure on the national electricity grid.
With its large-scale utility batteries, the Hex BESS boasts a total capacity of 1,440MWh per day and a 60MW Photovoltaic (PV) capacity. Specifically, the Hex site will store 100MWh of energy, sufficient to power towns like Mossel Bay or Howick for approximately five hours.
This project is just the beginning, forming part of Phase 1 of Eskom’s broader BESS project. In addition, this phase includes the installation of an additional 833MWh of storage capacity across eight Eskom Distribution substation sites in KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Western Cape, and Northern Cape, complemented by about 2MW of solar PV capacity.