Hydro power plant in Orange Free State, South Africa. Approximate location -28.5651, 29.0842.
HydroOrange Free StateSouth Africa
Drakensberg is a 1,000 MW hydro power station in Orange Free State, South Africa. It is operated by Eskom. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 1,001,142 homes (estimated). It ranks #16 of 122 South Africa power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1981, it is around 45 years old — long-established. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 0.8% of South Africa's electricity; the national grid averages 699 gCO₂/kWh (17.8% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1000120.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Eskom. All plants by this company →
This hydro plant converts the energy of falling or flowing water through hydro turbines. It sits in a subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cwb) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 28.6°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
Heating degree-days here run 64% below the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.
Climate heat-demand index: 25/100 — this site sits in the bottom third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
In colder climates, uninsulated hot equipment (boilers, turbines, valves, steam lines) loses proportionally more heat to ambient air — exactly the loss Inzonex modular insulation is designed to cut.
Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.
The #1 largest hydro power plant of 6 in South Africa by capacity.
South Africa has 6 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 2,020 MW of capacity.
Coordinates -28.5651, 29.0842 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
