South Africa has 48,521MW installed capacity, 32,246MW operating capacity and 34,665MW peak demand ¹. Eskom is the national utility which is responsible for base load and peaking power generation of the bulk of the electricity and transmission and distribution, although municipalities are involved in distribution. Eskom’s generation portfolio consists of 30 power stations comprising 38,773MW coal fired stations (73%), 1,860MW nuclear power (4%), 2,724MW pumped storage, 600MW hydropower, 2,409MW open cycle gas turbines (6%) and 100MW wind. The balance of 6,280.2MW is generated by independent power producers through 500MW concentrated solar power (CSP), (1%), 2,287.1MW solar PV (4%) and wind 3,442.5MW (6%) ².
The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) is in charge of policy development and planning while the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) which is a member of the Regional Energy Regulators Association oversees the regulatory aspects of the sector. South Africa is a member of the Southern Africa Power Pool. The Independent Power Producer Procurement Office is responsible for the national procurement and coordination of renewable energy capacity in South Africa.
The average energy access rate for South Africa is 82% broken down into 89% urban and 75% rural. The country’s renewable energy targets are set at 40% by 2030.
1. Southern Africa Power Pool, 2022
2. Inclusive of Eskom capacity.