Objectives

The primary objective of this tender is to gather market intelligence on licensed energy trading service providers operating within the South African electricity market. Rand Water aims to understand the availability, maturity, and capabilities of energy traders to support its energy cost optimisation, risk mitigation, operational resilience, and decarbonisation objectives. The information will inform internal strategies, governance frameworks, and future procurement processes such as a Request for Proposal (RFP).

Scope

The scope includes:

• Identifying and assessing energy trading service providers with experience in South Africa’s electricity market.
• Understanding the range of energy trading models, products, and risk management approaches available.
• Evaluating the capacity of market participants to support large-scale energy consumers like Rand Water.
• Gathering information on potential participation in a panel of licensed energy traders, supporting long-term electricity supply arrangements from third-party IPPs, and facilitating renewable energy trading solutions.
• Assessing the readiness of respondents to support multiple concurrent transactions and their ability to operate across Rand Water’s operational areas.

Technical Requirements

Respondents should provide detailed information on:

• Licensing and regulatory compliance, including holding or applying for an energy trading licence from NERSA.
• Experience with bilateral trading, spot, and near-term trading mechanisms within South Africa.
• Capabilities in load profile management, supporting energy-intensive operations, and renewable energy trading (physical and virtual).
• Operational systems, trading platforms, data management, metering infrastructure, and settlement processes.
• Risk management frameworks, including credit, market, volume, and regulatory risks.
• Supporting environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting related to energy supply.
• Flexibility to support future decarbonisation and renewable energy integration.

Skills Requirements

Respondents must demonstrate:

• Experience in energy trading for large utilities, water boards, or industrial clients with comparable operational scales.
• Technical competence in portfolio optimisation, risk management, and trading strategies.
• Operational readiness, including use of established trading platforms and data systems.
• Ability to support renewable energy sourcing, wheeling arrangements, and ESG reporting.
• Capacity to support multiple transactions, scalability, and portfolio diversification.
• Compliance with legal, regulatory, and governance standards, especially those relevant to public sector entities.
• Professional indemnity insurance coverage appropriate for energy trading activities.