Musina-Makhado power station — South Africa

Musina-Makhado power station is a 3,300 MW coal power station in Limpopo, South Africa. It ranks #11 of 152 South Africa power plants by installed capacity. In context, coal supplies about 81.4% 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 GEM_coa_musinamakhado_south.

Data provenance

Capacity and fuel are the upstream open-dataset record, not yet matched to a 2026 registry or GEM entry.

capacity: GEM GCPT; fuel: GEM GCPT

In context: how this plant compares

At 3,300 MW, Musina-Makhado power station is well above the median coal plant in South Africa (1,180 MW). Its current lifecycle status is “Shelved” — so it is not yet, or no longer, generating at full output. Coal plants burn pulverised coal to raise high-pressure steam for a turbine; they run as baseload but are the most carbon-intensive mainstream source and the first targeted for retirement or efficiency retrofits.

Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #10 largest coal power plant of 37 in South Africa by capacity.

South Africa has 37 coal power plants in this dataset, together about 67,847 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

• Coal-3 power station · Coal · 1,500 MW · Limpopo
• Lephalale Coal and Power Project · Coal · 600 MW · Limpopo
• Matimba power station · Coal · 3,990 MW · Limpopo
• Medupi power station · Coal · 4,768.8 MW · Limpopo
• Thabametsi power station · Coal · 630 MW · Limpopo
• Namane power station · Coal · 660 MW · Limpopo

Location

Coordinates -24.075, 28.141667 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions