Eswatini’s energy system is shaped by a simple but difficult reality: the country has strong domestic renewable resources, but it still depends heavily on imported electricity. As a small, landlocked kingdom between South Africa and Mozambique, Eswatini cannot treat energy security as only a question of fuel choice. Its power system depends on regional electricity trade, domestic hydropower, biomass from the sugar industry, imported petroleum products, and the slow buildout of solar and other renewable projects. The country’s main energy question is whether it can reduce import dependence without locking itself into expensive or high-emission infrastructure.
Eswatini’s Energy Story Is About Import Dependence
The defining feature of Eswatini’s energy sector is its reliance on electricity imports from the region. Conservative estimates place imports at roughly 60% to 80% of electricity consumed, mainly from South Africa’s Eskom and Mozambique’s Electricidade de Moçambique, with some supply also connected to wider Southern African Power Pool trading.
That import dependence matters because Eswatini is tied to regional supply conditions it does not control. If South Africa faces shortages, tariff pressure, coal fleet problems, or transmission limits, Eswatini feels the effect. If Mozambique supply changes, Eswatini also has to adjust. This is why local generation is more than an environmental issue. It is a national planning issue, a price issue, and a security issue.
Recent reporting from Eswatini’s electricity regulator showed that imports rose by 3.9% in the 2024/25 financial year, while peak demand increased from 245 MW to 252 MW. Domestic generation also improved, but not enough to remove the need for large regional imports.
Coal in Eswatini: Local Resources, Export Mining and a Difficult Power Debate
Coal is part of Eswatini’s energy story, but not in the same way as in neighboring South Africa. Eswatini has coal resources, and the Maloma Colliery is identified in the Energy Masterplan as the country’s sole active coal mine, producing anthracite mainly for export. The same plan notes that domestic coal consumption has included imported bituminous coal, even though the country has local coal potential.
The coal question in Eswatini is really about whether the country should use domestic coal to reduce electricity imports. A 200 MW coal-fired power plant has been discussed as a way to supply baseload power now covered by imports, and later reporting has also referred to larger coal ambitions.
Supporters of coal development argue that it could create jobs, use local resources, support baseload power, and reduce dependence on South Africa. Critics see a different risk: coal projects are expensive, carbon-heavy, hard to finance, and may become stranded assets as export markets and lenders move away from fossil fuel power. For Eswatini, coal is not just a fuel. It is a test of whether energy security should be built through domestic fossil generation or through a wider mix of renewables, storage, grid investment and regional trade.
Natural Gas in Eswatini: A Limited Role, Not the Center of the System
Natural gas does not currently define Eswatini’s energy system. Unlike countries with large gas fields, LNG terminals, or major gas-fired power fleets, Eswatini’s energy mix has historically been built around imported electricity, biomass, hydropower, coal, and petroleum products. The country’s Energy Masterplan does examine a natural gas scenario, but it describes higher investment needs and notes that the gas investment would not be fully used.
That makes gas a secondary option rather than the obvious foundation of the power system. Gas could theoretically provide flexible electricity generation and backup for solar or hydro variability. But Eswatini would need fuel supply arrangements, generation assets, and infrastructure that may be expensive for a relatively small system.
The practical issue is scale. A large gas strategy works best when a country has either domestic gas, a major industrial base, or access to regional gas infrastructure at competitive prices. Eswatini’s more natural near-term path is likely to focus on renewable generation, hydropower expansion, biomass, import optimization, and grid upgrades.
Oil in Eswatini: Transport Fuel and Full Import Dependence
Oil is important in Eswatini mainly because of transport, agriculture, logistics, and daily fuel use. It is not the main source of electricity generation, but it is essential for road transport, public vehicles, freight, farming equipment, backup generation, and some industrial activity.
Eswatini imports all of its petroleum products, transported by road and rail from South Africa and Mozambique. That makes oil security a supply-chain issue. The country needs reliable routes, storage, fuel retail infrastructure, price regulation, and cross-border trade stability. ESERA’s 2023/24 annual report recorded 340 million liters of fuel imported for the 2023 calendar year, showing the scale of petroleum dependence in a small economy.
Oil demand is also tied to geography. Eswatini is compact, but its economic life depends on connections between towns, border posts, farms, factories, and South African trade routes. Until electric mobility becomes more affordable and widespread, imported oil products will remain central to the country’s transport energy system.
Electricity Infrastructure in Eswatini: The Grid Is the Main Bottleneck
Eswatini’s energy transition depends on the grid as much as on generation. The country can add solar, biomass, hydro or coal capacity, but those projects only matter if power can move reliably to homes, factories, farms and commercial users.
Recent reporting on ESERA’s annual electricity compliance work showed both progress and pressure. Domestic generation in 2024/25 came from hydro, solar PV and biomass, with Maguga Hydro remaining an important hydro source, Lavumisa Solar performing strongly, and biomass plants at Mhlume and Simunye contributing to supply. At the same time, transmission losses worsened from 7% to 8%, above the international benchmark range of 3% to 5%.
This is why infrastructure should sit near the center of any Eswatini energy profile. The country needs new generation, but it also needs stronger transmission, distribution, system planning, grid codes, wheeling rules, and better integration of independent power producers. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy has also reported work on energy storage participation, the Eswatini Grid Code, and market guidelines as part of wider electricity-sector reform.
Nuclear Energy in Eswatini: No Power Reactors, But Nuclear Planning Has Begun
Eswatini does not operate commercial nuclear power reactors. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s PRIS database lists operating and under-construction nuclear reactors by country, and Eswatini does not appear among countries with reactors in operation or under construction.
However, that does not mean nuclear technology is absent from national planning. In 2024, Eswatini launched a Country Programme Framework with IAEA support for 2024–2029. The framework focuses on nuclear and radiation safety, food security, healthcare, water resources, and energy planning.
For an energy landing page, the distinction matters. Eswatini nuclear energy is not currently about an operating nuclear plant. It is about early-stage cooperation, technical capacity, regulation, and the possible use of nuclear technology in development planning. Given the country’s small grid size and near-term focus on import reduction, renewables, hydro, biomass and grid reform are more immediate power-sector issues than nuclear electricity generation.
Renewable Energy in Eswatini: Solar, Hydro and Biomass Are the Real Opportunity
Renewable energy is the most important domestic alternative to imported electricity. Eswatini has hydro resources, solar potential, biomass from sugar and forestry, and some wind potential. The Energy Masterplan expected renewable power technologies to become increasingly cost-competitive and projected renewables to form a major share of domestic electricity generation by 2034.
Solar is one of the clearest growth areas. The Energy Masterplan identified five zones for utility-scale solar PV farms with an estimated total potential of about 587 MW. More recent project reporting points to larger solar development, including the Tsamela Solar Project in the Shiselweni region and the earlier Lavumisa solar plant.
Hydropower is also important, but it is limited by river conditions, climate variability, and project economics. The Energy Masterplan refers to the 13.5 MW Lower Maguduza Hydro project and possible hydropower potential along the Ngwempisi River, though further feasibility work would be needed.
Biomass is especially country-specific. Eswatini’s sugar industry produces bagasse, a by-product of sugarcane processing that can be used with wood chips in boilers to produce steam and power. The Energy Masterplan states that local sugar millers have capacity to produce about 1.539 million tonnes of bagasse annually, making biomass one of the country’s most practical renewable resources.
The Sugar Industry Makes Eswatini’s Energy System Different
Eswatini’s energy profile cannot be understood without sugar. Sugarcane is one of the country’s main agricultural and industrial activities, and sugar processing creates energy by-products that can support electricity generation. The Energy Masterplan notes that bagasse is used with wood chips in boilers for process steam and power generation, while molasses can be used for ethanol production.
This gives Eswatini a renewable energy pathway that is more industrial than residential. Solar panels and rural electrification matter, but biomass cogeneration connects directly to mills, plantations, farmers, processing facilities, and industrial jobs. It also provides a steadier source of electricity than daytime-only solar, because biomass can produce dispatchable power when fuel supply and plant operations are well managed.
This does not make biomass unlimited. It depends on sugar production, water availability, forestry supply, mill investment, and efficient boilers. But it does make Eswatini different from a country whose renewable story is only solar and wind.
Geography and Energy Security in a Small Landlocked Country
Eswatini’s geography creates both problems and opportunities. It is small and landlocked, almost surrounded by South Africa, with a border with Mozambique. It is mountainous in the west and drops through uplands and valleys toward lower land in the east.
This geography affects energy in several ways. Being landlocked makes petroleum logistics dependent on regional transport routes. Being close to South Africa and Mozambique gives Eswatini access to regional electricity and fuel supply, but it also creates dependence. The country’s rivers and varied terrain support hydropower potential, while the Lowveld and agricultural areas connect energy planning to irrigation, sugarcane and biomass.
Rainfall variability also matters. Britannica describes strong precipitation gradients from west to east and major annual variation in rainfall. That affects hydropower, agriculture, water storage, and biomass production. In Eswatini, energy planning is therefore also water planning.
Energy Policy in Eswatini: From Imports to Domestic Generation
Eswatini’s policy direction is clear: increase domestic generation, expand renewable energy, improve access, and reduce dependence on imports. The National Energy Policy and Energy Masterplan are the key planning documents behind this shift. GET.transform summarizes the goals as expanding rural electrification, replacing traditional biomass, developing domestic power generation, strengthening transmission and distribution, enabling wheeling, and integrating higher shares of renewable energy.
The country has also used independent power producer policy to attract private participation. Afrobarometer notes that Eswatini’s Independent Power Producer Policy was adopted in 2016 to increase private-sector participation in electricity.
The policy challenge is sequencing. Eswatini needs more local generation, but not every local generation option has the same cost, risk or climate impact. Solar, hydro and biomass can reduce imports, but require grid integration. Coal can provide baseload, but creates emissions and financing risk. Gas can provide flexibility, but may require expensive infrastructure. Regional power trade can lower costs, but keeps the country exposed to external supply.
The Main Energy Challenges Facing Eswatini
Eswatini’s first challenge is import dependence. The country has made progress on access and domestic generation, but electricity imports remain central to national supply. That creates price exposure and vulnerability to regional shortages.
The second challenge is grid performance. Transmission losses, connection delays, and the need for stronger distribution infrastructure affect how quickly new generation can help the system. If solar, hydro and biomass projects are added faster than the grid can absorb them, the transition will slow.
The third challenge is choosing the right baseload strategy. Coal projects may reduce imports, but they could also increase emissions and long-term financial risk. The country has to decide how much firm power should come from coal, biomass, hydro, storage, imports, or future technologies.
The fourth challenge is rural and household energy. Eswatini has a relatively high electrification rate for the region, with Afrobarometer citing an overall rate of 85%, but the long-term goal is broader, reliable and affordable access. Replacing traditional biomass for cooking and heating is also part of the transition.
The Future of Energy in Eswatini
Eswatini’s energy future will depend on whether the country can turn domestic resources into reliable power without overbuilding the wrong assets. Solar can reduce daytime imports. Biomass can link the power sector to the sugar and forestry economy. Hydropower can support local generation where water and project economics allow. Grid reform can make independent power projects more useful. Regional trading can still help balance supply, but it cannot be the only strategy.
The country’s central energy question is not whether it has resources. It does. The question is whether Eswatini can combine renewables, limited fossil fuel use, better infrastructure, regional trade and careful policy into a system that is more secure, affordable and resilient than the import-heavy model it is trying to leave behind.