Introduction
A renewable energy project generates electricity at a remote site, and that electricity must be transmitted to the grid through an overhead line connecting the facility to a point of connection on the network. In South Africa, the depletion of generation connection capacity has driven developers to cluster projects around the same substations and to share a single overhead line. This article addresses the concerns that arise where one line serves several projects across multiple areas, namely the scope of the works, the responsibility for construction and ownership, the land rights and the sharing of cost and interface risk.
The Shared Overhead Line In Context
A shared arrangement connects two or more facilities through common infrastructure such as the line, the substation, the feeder bays, the protection and the metering. Sharing uses scarce connection capacity efficiently and reduces the cost carried by each developer, but it binds the projects together in a way a standalone project is not. The project company, network operator, contractor and the owners of adjacent projects each hold an interest in the line, and every relationship between them must be governed by a contract that states clearly where one party’s responsibility ends and the next begins.
Defining The Scope Of The Overhead Line Works
The most important step is the precise definition of the point of connection, the interface at which the developer’s installation meets the operator’s system and which fixes the boundary of ownership, maintenance and risk. Everything on the generator’s side of that point, including the conductors, towers, foundations, protection and telecommunications, must be allocated to a named party in a scope schedule. The scope must also be demarcated between the projects, recording which assets are common and which are dedicated, the export capacity assigned to each, and the way each project is metered and controlled, so that one project cannot compromise another’s allotted capacity. A demarcation schedule, a single line diagram and a responsibility matrix remove much of the ambiguity that later hardens into dispute.
Responsibility For Design, Construction And Ownership
The decision as to whether the developer or the operator constructs the line must either be agreed between the parties or will be determined by the circumstances prevailing in relation to the project. Where the developer constructs it, this is ordinarily done on behalf of the operator and against the operator’s standards, with the assets transferred to and adopted by the operator once they have passed the prescribed safety and quality assurance procedures. That gives the developer control of the programme but leaves it responsible for the compliance of the design and for defects after handover. The contract should record who owns the line during construction, when ownership and risk pass and what defect liability survives. The construction contract, the connection agreement and any transfer arrangement must align so that no gap opens between the contractor’s warranties and the obligations owed to the owner.
Land Access And Servitudes
An overhead line crossing multiple areas can be built only if the developer holds the land rights along the entire route. Land rights are secured through registered servitudes, which grant the right to convey electricity across the land and to enter it for construction and maintenance, while ownership remains with the landowner. A transmission servitude is granted in perpetuity, so the route, the width and the permitted activities must be settled with precision before construction begins.
Where the route crosses land already burdened by an existing servitude or infrastructure, the developer must obtain a wayleave from the holder of that servitude, and a refusal can halt the project, as a recent judgment setting aside such a refusal and compelling the grant illustrates (Sibanye Gold and Others v Eskom Holdings SOC and Others (2024-063165) [2025] ZAGPJHC (18 February 2026)).
Cost Contribution And Interface Risk
The cost of a shared line must be apportioned in a way each project and its lenders will accept, commonly in proportion to the export capacity allotted to each project, with a mechanism to adjust that contribution if a further project later connects. Where the shared infrastructure is held by a separate company, the assets are transferred to that company and the projects pay for their use, which gives lenders a defined and bankable structure.
Interdependency is the defining risk of a shared line. A delay in completing the common line will postpone the energisation of each connected project and may potentially result in a loss of revenue under the respective offtake agreements. The construction contracts must therefore coordinate the adjacent programmes, allocate responsibility for delay and for damage to the shared assets and provide mutual indemnities and a right to step in. The risk of curtailment, under which the operator restricts output when the network is constrained, should also be allocated expressly.
Managing The Risks
These concerns are manageable, but only if addressed before construction rather than after a dispute. The developer should fix the point of connection, establish a detailed scope and demarcation schedule, secure the servitudes, wayleaves and environmental authorisation along the whole route and settle the basis of cost contribution. The construction contract, connection agreement, land documents and any sharing arrangement must then be read together and kept consistent, so that responsibility for the line runs without interruption. Clarity on scope and responsibility at the outset remains the most reliable protection against the delay, cost and litigation a shared line can otherwise produce.
Conclusion
The concerns described in this article are legal and commercial in equal measure, and each can be managed before it becomes a dispute. Tiefenthaler advises developers, lenders, off-takers, independent power producers, EPC contractors and professional consultants across the full lifecycle of renewable energy and transmission projects and is well placed to assist with a shared overhead line from inception to energisation.