South Africa Adds East London To LNG Expansion As 2028 Gas Supply Crunch Approaches

South Africa is expanding its liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure with plans for a new import terminal at the Port of East London, as the continent’s most industrialised economy prepares for an expected decline in its main source of natural gas from 2028.

• South Africa has opened bidding for a new LNG import terminal at the Port of East London under a 25-year concession.
• The successful private operator will finance, build, operate and maintain the facility before transferring it to the ports authority.
• The project joins LNG developments at Richards Bay and Ngqura as South Africa prepares for declining pipeline gas supplies from Mozambique.
• Gas from Mozambique’s Pande and Temane fields, which has supplied most of South Africa’s gas for decades, is expected to decline after 2028.

The Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) has invited private operators to bid for the right to finance, build and operate a small-to-medium-scale LNG import terminal under a 25-year concession, Engineering News reported. The project adds East London to LNG developments being pursued at the ports of Richards Bay and Ngqura as South Africa looks for alternative gas supplies and seeks private capital for strategic energy infrastructure. Under the East London tender, the successful bidder will design, finance, develop, construct, operate and maintain the terminal before transferring the asset to TNPA when the concession expires.

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The proposed facility will occupy a greenfield site of about 8,900 square metres in the port’s West Bank precinct, next to the grain elevator and liquid bulk berth. The site has access to both road and rail infrastructure, potentially allowing LNG imported through the port to reach industrial and other consumers. TNPA launched the tender after an earlier expression-of-interest process attracted what the authority described as a strong response from potential LNG infrastructure operators. Bids are due by 22 February 2027, while a non-compulsory briefing for prospective bidders is scheduled for 29 September.

South Africa prepares for looming gas shortage

The East London project comes as South Africa races to secure alternative supplies before an expected sharp decline in natural gas availability from 2028. For more than two decades, the country has relied heavily on gas imported by pipeline from Mozambique’s Pande and Temane fields. The fields have supplied roughly 90% of South Africa’s natural gas, but production is expected to decline after 2028, raising concerns about supplies to industries that depend on the fuel. The expected shortage, widely referred to in South Africa as the “gas cliff”, has prompted calls for faster investment in LNG terminals, pipelines, storage and other gas infrastructure. South Africa’s Parliament warned in 2025 that the decline could pose risks to energy security, industrial production and the country’s wider economic competitiveness. The East London terminal is one of several projects being developed as the country tries to close that emerging supply gap.

LNG projects spread across South African ports

At Richards Bay, TNPA signed a 25-year agreement with Zululand Energy Terminals in February 2025 to develop what is planned as South Africa’s first large-scale LNG import terminal. Zululand Energy Terminals is a joint venture between Vopak Terminal Durban and Transnet Pipelines. The project remains in the front-end engineering design phase, with a final investment decision targeted for 2028. Its first phase is expected to include floating LNG storage and an onshore regasification system. South Africa is also advancing a separate LNG development at the Port of Ngqura in the Eastern Cape.

In May, TNPA signed another 25-year agreement, this time with Ukwanda LNG, to develop an onshore LNG import and regasification facility at the deepwater port. Ukwanda LNG is a joint venture between Tamasa Energy Group and the state-owned Strategic Fuel Fund. The Ngqura development is valued at about $1.34 billion (R22 billion), while TNPA plans a further investment of about $122 million (R2 billion) in a dedicated LNG berth. The project has been designated a national Strategic Integrated Project and is expected to provide infrastructure for South Africa’s planned gas-to-power programme.

The full Ngqura terminal is targeted for operation in 2035, with a capacity of about 3.6 million tonnes of LNG a year. The facility is expected to supply gas to industrial customers, data centres and independent power producers, while supporting planned electricity generation in the Coega Special Economic Zone. Unlike the large-scale Richards Bay development and the Ngqura gas-to-power project, TNPA is positioning East London as a small-to-medium-scale facility aimed partly at niche LNG and industrial consumers in the Eastern Cape.

The projects show South Africa increasingly turning to LNG imports and private investment as it tries to diversify gas supplies before its longstanding pipeline supplies from Mozambique decline.