Vodacom virtual wheeling solution reaches one-year commercial operations milestone in South Africa
Vodacom has marked one year of commercial virtual wheeling operations in South Africa, highlighting the model’s potential to help large businesses access renewable energy across multiple locations.
The telecommunications company became the first in South Africa to fully operationalize commercial virtual wheeling at scale after signing an agreement with Eskom in 2023. Commercial operations began in September 2025, with monthly refunds processed since November.
“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.” Said Sitho Mdlalose, CEO, Vodacom.
The solution enables Vodacom to aggregate electricity consumption across more than 15,000 low-voltage sites in 168 municipalities and match it with renewable power generated by independent power producers.
The platform was developed by Mezzanine, a majority-owned Vodacom subsidiary, to aggregate energy consumption data and reconcile it with renewable energy generation.
Vodacom said the successful monthly refunds over the past year demonstrate that the system can support the full transaction process, including data handling, claim validation, 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.” Noted Mdlalose.
The company said the model could provide a framework for other businesses with geographically dispersed operations to procure renewable energy without requiring generation infrastructure at every site.
Mdlalose added that the innovation is critical to Vodacom’s climate transition plan (CTP) which compromises moving to renewable energy and enhancing energy.
The milestone comes as Vodacom works towards 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.” Added Mdlalose.
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