South Africa has 104 power plants in this atlas, with 50,423 MW of reported capacity. The largest listed plant is Kendal power station (4,116 MW, coal; current status unverified). By number of records the most common technologies are solar, wind and coal. Grid operators listed here include National Transmission Company South Africa. Electricity is regulated by NERSA. Renewables supplied 12.5% of its electricity in 2024.
Reported capacity is the rated size of the listed installations, not electricity being produced now. Source dates and coverage differ, so newer facilities may be absent and historical records may remain.
THE ELECTRICITY SYSTEM IN CONTEXT
South Africa: plant availability and supply interruptions need separate evidence
Reporting scope: CSIR utility-scale power generation review, January–December 2024.
Capacity is not dependable output
CSIR's 2024 analysis examines installed capacities, actual energy production, energy availability and loadshedding. Its scope includes Eskom's aggregated generation resources and renewable procurement programme resources. An atlas capacity total alone does not measure plant availability or establish whether demand could be met.
The CSIR study distinguishes coal, nuclear, hydro, pumped storage, open-cycle gas turbines, wind, solar photovoltaics and concentrated solar power. Broad atlas fuel categories may combine installations with different operating characteristics. Check the report's coverage before applying its results to generators outside that study or to today's operating conditions.
By Power Stations Worldwide · Context sources checked · Review scope. This date does not update the underlying plant inventory or electricity series.
Grid operators and electricity market in South Africa
Single buyerOne state buyer, private generators
Coal supplies about 80% of electricity. After years of load-shedding, private renewable plants are expanding, and the 2024 Electricity Regulation Amendment Act creates a competitive wholesale market.
State-owned Eskom generates most power; its subsidiary NTCSA runs transmission and buys from independent producers; municipalities distribute to many customers.
Member of the Southern African Power Pool, which links national utilities across southern Africa and runs regional day-ahead and intraday electricity markets.
What does “Single buyer” mean?
Independent power producers build plants and sell their output under long-term contracts to one designated state buyer, usually the national utility, which runs the grid and sells to consumers.
References reviewed 2026-09-29. Logos are each organisation’s own site icon, shown to identify it. Selected organisations, not an exhaustive list of licence holders.
South Africa is in Southern Africa. Its coastal or island geography provides a different setting for electricity infrastructure from inland systems. This profile connects country reference information with the historical station inventory and reported electricity generation.
Geographic reference: Countries geographic database (ODbL). Boundaries and names are for orientation; language listings are introductory, not exhaustive. Banner map: Natural Earth boundaries (public domain) with this atlas’s station records.
The source inventory contains 104 records for South Africa. Select a fuel in the map to explore where its stations are located, then open a record to inspect reported capacity and provenance.
Inventory coverage
104 source records. 0 reported operational in their source snapshot; this is not live status.
Browse 104 source records, ordered by reported capacity. Ownership and operating status describe the source snapshot; they may have changed. Missing information is shown explicitly.
