South Africa closes in on 4.41 GW of rooftop solar capacity

News statistics from South African utility Eskom show that the country added 1.82 GW of new distributed-generation PV capacity in the first six months of this year. However, PV analyst Chris Ahlfedlt warns that the published numbers could also include some utility-scale projects.

Image: Eskom

Image: Eskom

Share

Eskom has published new rooftop PV installation statistics. It says that residential and C&I installations have reached 4,411.5 MW of cumulative capacity by the end of June, with around 1.82 GW deployed in the January-June period alone.

However, several media outlets have questioned the figures, stating that they also include several non-rooftop installations.

“While the rooftop solar PV industry is experiencing rapid growth in the past year with the constant loadshedding experienced by homes and businesses, the estimates for rooftop solar PV installed capacity in Eskom’s recent status report seem overstated,” Chris Ahlfeldt, the founder of Blue Horizon Energy Consulting Services, told pv magazine. “It sounds like the table also sums estimates for ground-mounted solar PV projects such installations such as those for mines and industrial customers, but not projects procured from the government’s REIPPPP, which would help explain the growth of around 350% growth in 14 months estimate.”

Popular content

Ahlfeldt said that further clarity from Eskom is needed to substantiate the estimates.  The International Renewable Energy Agency's (IRENA) latest statistics show that South Africa hit 5.82 GW of cumulative installed PV capacity at the end of 2022.

This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.