Rooiwal power station — South Africa
Coal power plant in Gauteng, South Africa. Approximate location -25.555, 28.2376.
CoalGautengSouth AfricasubcriticalMothballed
Rooiwal power station is a 300 MW coal power station in Gauteng, South Africa. It ranks #53 of 152 South Africa power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1966, it is around 60 years old — an older, legacy facility. 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 WRI1075862.
Data status
Known data
Calculated from dataset
Not available
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
Data provenance
Capacity and fuel are the upstream open-dataset record, not yet matched to a 2026 registry or GEM entry.
capacity: WRI GPPD; fuel: WRI GPPD
In context: how this plant compares
At 300 MW, Rooiwal power station is below the median coal plant in South Africa (1,180 MW). Technically it is described as subcritical. Its current lifecycle status is “Mothballed” — 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 #32 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
- Pretoria West power station · Coal · 180 MW · Gauteng
- Hernic Waste Heat Plant · Waste · 25.5 MW · North-West
- Kelvin power station · Coal · 600 MW · Gauteng
- Ferro Waste Heat Plant · Waste · 2.2 MW · North-West
- ENERGY Joburg Electircity Project power station · Biomass · 19 MW · Gauteng
- Kusile Power Station · Coal · 4,800 MW · Gauteng
Location
Coordinates -25.555, 28.2376 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Frequently asked questions
What type of power plant is Rooiwal power station?
Rooiwal power station is a 300 MW coal power plant in Gauteng, South Africa, commissioned in 1966.