• Vodacom CEO Sitho Mdlalose.

A year ago, Vodacom became the first company in South Africa to fully operationalise commercial virtual wheeling at scale, providing a blueprint for other South African corporates and marking a significant milestone in the country’s energy transition. This achievement was supported by Mezzanine, the majority-owned Vodacom subsidiary that developed the digital platform that aggregates energy consumption data across multiple distributed sites and reconciles it with energy generated by independent power producers.

“Our partnership with Eskom has been transformational. The virtual wheeling solution was developed to enable South Africa’s private sector to participate in addressing the country’s energy crisis, which, at the time in 2023, was having a significant impact on the economy. We had four objectives in mind when we approached Eskom with this solution: one, to remove complexity; two, to use technology to overcome legacy limitations; three, to access renewable energy with a sound business case; and four, to encourage private participation in helping to solve the country’s energy crisis,” says Vodacom CEO Sitho Mdlalose.

The historic first virtual wheeling agreement between Vodacom and Eskom was signed in 2023. Monthly refunds have been processed since November 2025, demonstrating that the contractual mechanisms and digital infrastructure can reliably support complex, auditable energy transactions in real-world operating conditions. This first anniversary marks a turning point in moving the solution from pilot design into proven operational execution at scale.

The successful monthly refunds follow Eskom’s comprehensive reconciliation and confirmation of Vodacom’s monthly claims, demonstrating that the mechanism functions effectively across the complete operational cycle, from data handling and claim validation through to reconciliation and financial settlement.

“This first anniversary represents far more than a year of successful monthly refunds. It is proof that our collaborative efforts have resulted in a workable, scalable solution for the country,” adds Mdlalose.

The implications of this achievement extend beyond Vodacom and Eskom. The virtual wheeling model provides a replicable blueprint for other large, distributed businesses seeking to access renewable energy without on-site generation. By translating a sophisticated market mechanism into an executable business process, virtual wheeling removes technical and operational barriers that have previously constrained private sector participation in South Africa’s energy transition.

While work remains to broaden participation and mature supporting systems, the completed twelve-month period — from 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2026 — provides compelling evidence that virtual wheeling is transitioning from theoretical promise into operational reality.

Virtual wheeling fundamentally reimagines how organisations with distributed electricity demand across multiple municipalities can access renewable energy from independent power producers. Unlike traditional wheeling, which establishes a one-to-one relationship between a generator and buyer, virtual wheeling totals energy consumption across numerous sites and matches it with renewable generation, making it possible for complex, nationwide operations like Vodacom’s to participate meaningfully in the energy transition.

“This innovation is also essential to our climate transition plan (CTP), which includes moving to renewable energy and enhancing energy efficiency,” Mdlalose continues.

After the agreement was signed in 2023, two years of technical and regulatory work followed before the mechanism moved from agreement to commercial operation in September 2025 — the milestone marked by this first anniversary.

The agreement emerged from Vodacom’s unique operational challenge. With more than 15,000 distributed low-voltage sites spread across 168 licensed municipalities nationwide and direct Eskom supply, the company faced extraordinary complexity in sourcing renewable energy through traditional wheeling structures. The virtual wheeling solution was co-developed with Eskom specifically to address these limitations and enable Vodacom to pursue its goal of sourcing 100% of its electricity demand from renewable sources.

“For Vodacom, this milestone represents significant progress toward our renewable energy ambitions. But most importantly, for Eskom and South Africa as a whole, it demonstrates that collaborative innovation between public and private stakeholders can deliver tangible progress in solving the country’s energy challenges,” Mdlalose concludes.

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