Heritage Cases

Transnet is South Africa’s sole provider of rail transport infrastructure for coal transportation. One of South Africa’s largest foreign exchange earners is the export of high-quality coal products to China. The Transnet rail link between the coal fields in Mpumalanga Province and the export node, the Richards’ Bay Coal Terminal, is one of the busiest railway links in South Africa. The increase in demand for South Africa’s high-quality coal necessitates the increase in production, which in turn has demands on the railway network infrastructure. In response to the increased demand for South Africa’s coal in the global market place, Transnet needs to increase the volume of coal that is being transported between the Mpumalanga coal fields and the Richard’s Bay Coal Terminal. This increase will be facilitated through capital expenditure on two fronts, the supporting infrastructure, i.e. the electrical network supplying the locomotives and the locomotives themselves. In order for Transnet to accomplish the above they need to upgrade their power supply to their various traction substations between Ermelo and Richards Bay to facilitate the introduction of the new, larger locomotives that will be added to increase the volume of coal being transported and exported. Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd being one of the main suppliers of electrical energy in South Africa has been tasked by Transnet to supply the additional energy requirements to these traction substations.