South Africa has the solar, wind and land resources to make it one of the most competitive electricity markets globally as countries transition from centralised, fossil-based power systems to decentralised and decarbonised structures. However, the grid remains a key enabler and, for the foreseeable future at least, the lack of network in the key Cape provinces will pose difficulties. That said, the abundance of grid capacity in Mpumalanga could well turn necessity into just-transition virtue.