The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NESRA) registered 111 generation facilities with a total capacity of 1,916 MW between April and June this year, the first quarter of South Africa’s latest financial year.
NESRA says the new facilities, which have an estimated investment value of ZAR 51.91 billion ($2.95 billion), were processed within an average turnaround time of 11 working days. During the first quarter of the prior financial year, which registered 104 projects, the average process time was 15 days.
The regulator’s latest update adds that solar projects emerged as the predominant technology chosen, “underscoring South Africa’s abundant sunlight resources, which are ideal for both small-scale and large-scale energy generation”.
Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal were the three provinces with the largest number of registered facilities, with 31, 21 and 14. The Western Cape had the largest capacity of new projects, reaching 740.63 MW, followed by the Northern Cape (506.55 MW) and Free State (301.53 MW).
Since the inception of NESRA’s registration regime in 2018, the regulator has registered 2,056 generation facilities with a total capacity reaching 12,757 MW and a total investment cost of ZAR 293 billion.
In July, the South African government approved an additional six solar projects totalling 1,290 MW of new capacity under the country’s seventh renewables procurement round.
South Africa deployed 1.1 GW of solar in 2024, following a record year for solar additions in 2023. It is now working towards deploying at least 3 GW of new renewables annually, increasing to 5 GW by 2030.
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