PowerAtlaspowered by inzonex.co.uk
Home / Africa / South Africa

Power plants in South Africa

A directory of 122 power plants in South Africa with a combined installed capacity of 57,877 MW, mapped and ranked from open data — by fuel, capacity and emissions.

122power plants
57,877MW total capacity
10fuel types
24with measured CO₂

Power mix by fuel (South Africa)

Solar: 44 plants44SolarWind: 24 plants24WindCoal: 18 plants18CoalBiomass: 14 plants14BiomassHydro: 6 plants6HydroWaste: 6 plants6WasteOther: 4 plants4OtherOil: 3 plants3Oil

Plant counts by primary fuel, WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

South Africa electricity grid — mix & carbon intensity (2025)

699gCO₂/kWh grid intensity
17.8%low-carbon electricity
13.6%renewables
82.2%fossil fuels
Coal: 81 % of electricity81CoalSolar: 8 % of electricity8SolarWind: 5 % of electricity5WindNuclear: 4 % of electricity4NuclearOil: 1 % of electricity1OilHydro: 1 % of electricity1HydroBioenergy: 0 % of electricity0Bioenergy

Source: Ember / Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0).

Largest plants in South Africa

#PlantFuelMW
1Medupi power stationCoal4,769
2Kendal power stationCoal4,116
3Majuba power stationCoal4,110
4Matimba power stationCoal3,990
5Lethabo power stationCoal3,708
6Tutuka power stationCoal3,654
7Duvha power stationCoal3,600
8Matla power stationCoal3,600
9Kriel power stationCoal3,000
10Arnot power stationCoal2,352
11Hendrina power stationCoal2,000
12KoebergNuclear1,800
13Camden power stationCoal1,600
14AnkerligOil1,327
15Grootvlei power stationCoal1,190
16DrakensbergHydro1,000
17Komati Power StationCoal1,000
18Secunda power stationOther880
19Kusile Power StationCoal794
20GourikwaOil740

Largest by capacity → Dirtiest by CO₂ →

Browse by fuel

Solar (44)Wind (24)Coal (18)Biomass (14)Hydro (6)Waste (6)Other (4)Oil (3)