South Africa produced around 245,000 GWh of electricity in 2021.[6][7] Most of this electricity is produced using coal, and is consumed domestically. However, the country's energy sector is undergoing a transformation, and shifting towards the greater use of renewables, and a greater prevalence of independent power producers.[8]
The South African energy grid has around 60,000 MW of capacity, but with Eskom’s aging fleet of coal power stations, the country faces constant rolling blackouts as they are unable to meet the energy demand.
Open Cycle Gas Turbine Power Plants powered by diesel make up 5.9% of the energy grid and are use as peaking power plants. With the shortfall of energy production, although expensive, these power stations are used more often to reduce the rolling blackouts.
Prior to the establishment of Eskom the provision of electricity was dominated by municipalities and private companies. The city of Kimberley was the first user of public electricity in South Africa when it installed electric streetlights run off a coal fired power plant in 1882 to reduce crime at night.[15]:5
The first central power station and distribution system in South Africa consisting of a 150kW generator with two boilers and located at Cape Town Harbour was completed in 1891 to supply power to government buildings in the nearby city.[16]
In 1893 the town (now neighborhood) of Wynberg, in Cape Town, opened a power station to provide power to a local tram system and public streetlights.[16] This was followed by the first municipal power station built by the City of Cape Town in 1895 with the construction of the Graaff Electric Lighting Works to power 775 streetlights.[17]
Not all early power stations were successful, such as the short lived President Street Power Station in Johannesburg. Constructed in 1906, the use of unsuitable fuel in an experimental engine design lead to an explosion in 1907.[18]
Between 1908 and 1912, four power stations were erected around Johannesburg to deliver electricity for the nearby mining industry. The power plants were connected to an electrical substation 8km outside of Rosherville by the first transmission lines in South Africa, with a voltage of 80 kV, 40 kV, and 20 kV.[19]
Eskom was founded by the Electricity Act of 1922 which allowed for the establishment of a government owned non-profit company to provide electricity. In 1948 Eskom bought out the Victoria Falls and Transvaal Power Company with government support for £14.5 million (roughly equivalent to £2.55 billion in 2017) to become South Africa's primary electricity provider. Eskom dropped its non-profit mandate in the late 1970s and government control over the company was expanded in 1998 with the passing of the Eskom Amendment Act.[20]:5–8
As of 2025, South Africa has a total of 23 independent power producer–owned solar power facilities, each contributing more than 75MW of dispatchable power to the grid, with the largest providing 150MW. The country’s independent power producer (IPP) procurement programme aims to add 39GW of capacity to South Africa’s energy mix by 2030.[23]
Plants already in operation have contributed significantly to preventing load-shedding. The Kenhardt hybrid solar and battery energy storage facility, with 540MW capacity, is the country’s largest, followed by Xina Solar One, Karoshoek Solar One, Kathu Solar Park, Kaxu Solar One, and Redstone Solar Thermal Power Plant. All of these plants are located in the Northern Cape province.[23]
According to the Department of Energy's IPP Projects platform, South Africa's 25 largest solar farms contribute around 2,100MW to the national grid.[23]
Solar energy potential
In early 2025, in a study published in the journal ScienceDirect,[citation needed] researchers[who?] estimated that South Africa's commercial and industrial rooftops alone could generate around 12 gigawatts of solar energy. This includes retail outlets, universities, schools, hospitals, and factories. South Africa has approximately 111 million square meters of commercial and industrial rooftop surface (around 80% of the total) that is suitable for solar, and the country enjoys a very sunny climate, which is ideal for solar power generation.[24]
The same researchers made numerous recommendations in terms of how best to use this potential energy resource. Firstly, they recommended that government regulations should be put in place to mandate the installation of solar power on all suitable new commercial rooftops. Secondly, they recommended that an assessment should be done of existing rooftops' potential to have solar installed.[24]
And thirdly, they recommended that "virtual power plants" are set up, so that prosumers (those who consume and produce energy simultaneously) can sell power to the grid by forming virtual power plant platforms among themselves. The virtual power plant platform aggregates the power produced by these small power plants, and sells it at one price to Eskom, a municipality, or other prosumers. South Africa already has 5 such virtual power plants, but there exists an opportunity to develop a national policy to allow small scale producers to form virtual power plants and sell energy directly to their municipalities.[24]
Progress
In May 2025, Sasol, South Africa’s second largest emitter of greenhouse gases, announced that it intended to run its flagship plant at full capacity, offsetting the use of coal feedstock by sourcing more renewables. Sasol aims to ramp up its Secunda synthetic fuels facility as close to a nameplate capacity of 7.6 million tons a year as possible, while maintaining its target of reducing emissions by 30% by 2030. This is part of a larger plan to decarbonize.[25]
In June 2025, a World Bank-linked climate fund backed South African plans to cut the country's reliance on coal, unlocking up to R47 billion ($2.6 billion) in financing. The approval of an updated plan by the Climate Investment Funds will see the CIF disburse $500 million to the country. That, in turn, clears the path for as much as $2.1 billion in funding from multilateral lenders, including the World Bank and the African Development Bank. The funding is set to play an important role in South Africa’s energy transition.[26]
In the same month, it was reported that German-based JUWI Renewable Energies was building large-scale solar projects for major companies in South Africa. The company signed two solar module supply agreements with JA Solar, and includes around 420,000 solar panels for two large-scale projects, with an energy output totaling 220 MW. These will be used for companies including Glencore, Sasol, and Air Liquide. The plants form part of JUWI's broader R6 billion rollout of new solar PV projects in South Africa.[27]
In late June 2025, in his keynote address at the Africa Green Hydrogen Summit, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa reaffirmed his commitment to expanding the country's green hydrogen production. As of mid-2025, South Africa has invested more than R1.5 billion into its Hydrogen South Africa program.[28]
Also in June 2025, it was announced that South African solar service provider Wetility had signed a R500 million deal with investment fund manager Jaltech, to fund the expansion of solar and battery systems across South Africa. The agreement will support the rollout of over 16 megawatts of distributed solar power, and avoid more than 25,000 metric tons of carbon emissions. The companies had worked together before, however this deal represents a significant expansion of their partnership.[29]
In July 2025, it was reported that Eskom planned to decommission 23 gigawatts of electricity generated from five coal power stations by 2040. These stations would be replaced with alternatives such as hydro, gas, and nuclear power generation. The Just Energy Transition (JET) plans were announced before the South African Government's Portfolio Committee on Electricity and Energy.[30]
As part of its JET, by 2040, Eskom plans to increase its hydro output from 3GW to 5GW, its other renewable energy type output from 3GW to 32GW, its gas output to 12GW, and its nuclear output to 10GW. Despite taking coal stations offline over this period, the power utility stated that its total electricity output would increase from 47GW in 2025 to 77GW in 2040.[30]
Nuclear power developments
South Africa was once at the forefront of small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) development, with national electricity provider, Eskom, spending eleven years and R9 billion developing pebble-bed modular reactor technology (PBMR). However, no demonstration plant emerged from the process, and it was halted in 2010.[31]
In recent years, there has been renewed interest from numerous private power producers to roll out SMRs across South Africa.[31]
In July 2025, nuclear technology company Stratek Global announced that it had secured land on which it plans to build an SMR. The 2,000 hectare site is located along border of the Gauteng and North West provinces, and is owned by the Zilkaats Estate. Stratek stated that the site already had various kinds of infrastructure on it, and that, if it secured government approval, its HTMR-100 SMR would be able to produce 35MW of power, without requiring a large body of water for cooling. This would enable its deployment in many parts of South Africa.[31]
In the same month, it was reported that US-based X-Energy, with the involvement of 2 former Eskom engineers, expressed interest in building SMR plants in South Africa. X-Energy’s Xe-100 PBMR supports up to 80MW of power production, and 4 such units can be combined, for a maximum output of 320MW.[31]
Eskom is a South African electricity public utility, established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) and also known by its Afrikaans name Elektrisiteits voorsienings kommissie (EVKOM), by the government of the Union of South Africa in terms of the Electricity Act (1922). Eskom represents South Africa in the Southern African Power Pool.
The company is divided into Generation, Transmission, and Distribution divisions and together Eskom generates approximately 95% of electricity used in South Africa. However, in recent years, this percentage has begun to decrease, as increasing numbers of independent power producers (IPPs) enter the market.
↑ J Shorten, The Johannesburg Saga, ‘The City Electricity Department,’ page 599 ff.
↑ G. Klingenberg (1924): Bau grosser Kraftwerke. Zweite Auflage. S. 422ff: VIII. Zweites Ausführungsbeispiel: Die Anlagen der Victoria Falls and Transvaal Power Co. Ltd. in Südafrika (Commons)
↑ Conradie, S. R.; Messerschmidt, L. J. M. (2000). A Symphony of Power: The Eskom Story. Johannesburg: Chris van Rensburg Publishers. p.77.
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