Transnet Opens East London LNG Terminal Tender as Richards Bay Project Seeks Commercial Anchor
South Africa now has two proposed LNG import terminals in parallel development, both targeting a 2028 gas supply shortfall that neither project has yet secured financing to address.
South Africa's Transnet National Ports Authority opened applications on Friday (2026-09-18) for a private operator to develop a small-to-medium LNG receiving terminal at the Port of East London in the Eastern Cape, under a 25-year build-operate-transfer concession. The winning bidder must finance, construct, operate and maintain the facility before handing it back to the ports authority.5,4
Phase 1 of the East London project calls for a floating storage unit holding 170,000 cubic metres of LNG and an onshore regasification system capable of processing around 400 million cubic feet per day, or approximately 3 million metric tonnes per year, according to TNPA tender documents.5
The East London bid is the second proposed import terminal in South Africa's pipeline. Before Wednesday (2026-09-16), the country's LNG push had centred on the Zululand Energy Terminal at Richards Bay. ExxonMobil signed a Heads of Agreement on Wednesday (2026-06-17) for the U.S. supermajor to supply LNG to ZET, which would be South Africa's first import facility. Running two development processes in parallel raises the probability that at least one reaches commercial operation before the 2028 gas supply shortfall that Business Insider Africa has linked to the country's accelerating infrastructure drive.2,4
ZET at Richards Bay carries an almost identical Phase 1 profile: a 170,000-cubic-metre floating storage vessel with 3 million tonnes of annual regasification capacity. The $1 billion project would anchor a 3,000-megawatt gas-fired power plant at the same port. A second phase would add onshore storage and lift total capacity to 4.5 million tonnes per year.1
Eskom and ZET reaffirmed their commitment to Richards Bay on Friday (2026-09-18), citing ongoing work on regulatory approvals, long-term commercial contracting and infrastructure structuring. A signed long-term offtake agreement with a large domestic buyer remains the essential missing piece before project financing can close.5
South Africa still generates roughly 80% of its electricity from coal. Gas-fired capacity at Richards Bay, if built, would begin to shift that share. But both ZET and East London remain pre-FID, with no binding supply contracts or construction start dates publicly announced for either terminal.1
ExxonMobil's footprint in southern Africa extends beyond Richards Bay. In August (2026-08-17), the company and its partners awarded approximately $1.1 billion in contracts for long-lead equipment and early works on Mozambique's Rovuma LNG Phase 1 project, advancing toward a final investment decision. Rovuma output sits geographically close to South Africa's proposed import terminals, though no offtake linkage between the two projects appears in publicly available documents.3
Reuters reported that ExxonMobil aims to lift its global LNG supply capacity above 40 million tonnes per year by 2030. The Richards Bay Heads of Agreement fits that directional ambition. But a Heads of Agreement is not a binding supply contract, and the two projects remain separated by regulatory clearances, a financing close and a construction decision that neither ZET nor ExxonMobil has publicly announced.1
East London opened its operator search on Friday (2026-09-18), effectively at step one of a process that routinely takes years. At Richards Bay, Eskom and ZET's reaffirmation on Friday (2026-09-18) came alongside an acknowledgment that approvals and commercial contracting are still incomplete. South Africa's 2028 supply crunch is the stated deadline driving both terminals, and neither project has yet closed the commercial commitments needed to begin construction.5,4