SolarAfrica CEO David McDonald discusses electricity wheeling in South Africa

Published: Nov. 14, 2023, 9:21 a.m.

In this episode of What’s Next with Aki Anastasiou, David McDonald — co-founder and CEO of SolarAfrica — discusses electricity wheeling and the positive impact it can have on the South African energy landscape. McDonald boasts over 17 years of experience in the power industry, and his technical expertise and hands-on approach have been instrumental to SolarAfrica’s success. In this interview, McDonald unpacks the basics of electricity wheeling and details the types of businesses that will benefit most from the service. He then discusses the importance of grid allocation, given that SolarAfrica is one of the few IPPs allowed to wheel electricity in the country. McDonald also touches on Eskom, explaining why it is essential that the national power provider partners with the private sector on energy projects that will benefit the country. He concludes by outlining SolarAfrica’s plan to wheel electricity into Eskom’s grid with its utility-scale solar farm.