R27.5 Million ESKOM SANEDI Chair in AI and Energy Established at University of Pretoria

The University of Pretoria has taken a decisive step in advancing South Africa's energy future with the establishment of the ESKOM SANEDI Chair in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Energy — a R27.5 million, five-year research initiative co-funded equally by ESKOM and the South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI).

Effective from 10 November 2025, the Chair is hosted within the Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology at the University of Pretoria, and is embedded in the South African Centre for 4IR (SACIT) — the University's flagship hub for Fourth Industrial Revolution research affiliated with the World Economic Forum Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

A Strategic Investment in South Africa's Energy Future

The establishment of this Chair represents one of the most significant research investments in AI and energy in South Africa to date. The total funding of R27,500,000 (inclusive of VAT) is shared equally between ESKOM (R13.75 million) and SANEDI (R13.75 million), disbursed bi-annually over the five-year term. The Chair carries provision for two additional five-year renewal cycles, giving it a potential 15-year lifespan and a long-term institutional footprint in the national energy research landscape.

The timing is deliberate. South Africa faces one of the most complex energy transitions in the developing world — a coal-dependent grid under severe strain, accelerating renewable energy deployment, mounting grid instability, and deep socioeconomic inequalities tied to energy access. Artificial intelligence offers transformative potential to manage this complexity, but only if local research capacity is built to apply it meaningfully in the South African context.

Five Research Themes

The Chair's research agenda is structured around five interlocking themes, each addressing a critical dimension of the country's energy challenge:

1. AI-Driven Grid Management

South Africa's power grid is increasingly stressed by the combination of ageing infrastructure, load-shedding, and the variable output of renewable energy sources. AI-driven grid management research under this Chair will develop adaptive control systems and real-time optimisation algorithms capable of balancing supply and demand at scale — reducing outages, improving grid resilience, and enabling smarter dispatch decisions.

2. Renewable Energy Integration

The rapid expansion of solar PV and wind capacity creates integration challenges that conventional grid management tools were not designed to handle. This theme focuses on forecasting models, grid stabilisation techniques, and AI-assisted planning tools to support high levels of variable renewable energy penetration without compromising system reliability.

3. Energy Market Optimisation

As South Africa transitions toward a more competitive electricity market, price signals, procurement strategies, and market design become critical levers. Research in this theme will develop AI-based tools for market modelling, price forecasting, and optimal bidding strategies — supporting both system operators and energy buyers in navigating an increasingly complex market environment.

4. Predictive Maintenance and Asset Performance

ESKOM's generation and transmission assets are among the most critical in the country. Unplanned outages have cost the economy hundreds of billions of rands. This theme applies machine learning to sensor data, maintenance records, and operational histories to build predictive models that flag equipment degradation before failure — extending asset lifespans and reducing costly downtime.

5. Socioeconomic Impact of the Energy Transition

The just energy transition is not only a technical challenge — it is a social and economic one. South Africa's coal-dependent regions face significant disruption as the grid decarbonises. This theme uses data-driven methods to model the socioeconomic impacts of the transition, identify vulnerable communities, and inform policy interventions that ensure the transition is equitable as well as efficient.

Developing the Next Generation of Researchers

A core mandate of the Chair is human capital development. The funding structure includes dedicated support for master's and doctoral bursaries, building a pipeline of South African researchers with deep expertise at the intersection of AI and energy systems. These graduates will be equipped to contribute to both the private sector and public institutions, including ESKOM and SANEDI themselves.

Why This Chair Matters

South Africa is not the first country to invest in AI for energy, but the context here is unique. The combination of a stressed national grid, a coal-heavy baseline, deep inequality in energy access, and significant renewable energy potential makes South Africa a compelling — and demanding — testbed for AI applications in energy transition.

By embedding this research within SACIT at the University of Pretoria, the Chair connects directly to global networks of 4IR research while remaining grounded in the local technical and policy realities. The JET Group's existing work in smart microgrids, DER revenue modelling, and energy system optimisation provides a natural research home for this new Chair's agenda.

The ESKOM SANEDI Chair in AI and Energy is not simply an academic appointment. It is an institutional commitment to using the tools of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to solve one of Africa's most pressing infrastructure challenges — and to ensuring that South Africa's researchers are at the forefront of that effort.