R20bn investment fuels South Africa's renewable energy growth with 124 new projects

South Africa’s renewable energy push gathered fresh momentum in the three months to June

South Africa’s renewable energy push gathered fresh momentum in the three months to June, with 124 new generation facilities worth an estimated R20.18 billion registered by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA).

According to the energy regulator, the facilities have a combined generation capacity of 804MW, with solar photovoltaic projects accounting for 122 of the 124 registrations.

The remaining two projects are wind facilities, but together they account for 568MW of the new capacity. Solar projects, despite making up the vast majority of registrations, account for 236MW.

"The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) announced that it registered 124 generation facilities during the first quarter of the 2026/27 financial year (April to June 2026)," the regulator said.

"These facilities have a total capacity of 804 MW, with an estimated investment value of R20.18 billion. NERSA processed the applications for the registration of the 124 generation facilities within an average of 10 working days,".

The regulator also said the processing time had improved from an average of 11 working days in the first quarter of 2025/26 to 10 working days in the latest quarter.

The Northern Cape attracted the biggest share of investment, with five projects worth R11.93 billion and a combined capacity of 440MW.'

"The Northern Cape, Mpumalanga and Gauteng led in total installed capacity and investment cost. The Northern Cape recorded the highest investment cost, at approximately R11.934 billion, for projects with a combined installed capacity of 440 MW".

This was followed by Mpumalanga, which recorded 182MW from seven projects, while Gauteng recorded 132MW from 33 facilities.

Of the 124 facilities, 61 will connect to the Eskom grid, accounting for 757MW of capacity and R19.54 billion in investment.

"The remaining 61 facilities are connected to the Eskom network, accounting for 757 MW of capacity and approximately R19 541 million in investment. In the first quarter of 2026/27, the average investment cost was approximately R25 099/kW.

"Since the inception of the registration regime in 2018, NERSA has registered 2 619 generation facilities, with a combined capacity of 20 131 MW and an estimated total investment cost of approximately R409 billion"