The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) reports that a further 124 generation facilities were registered during the third quarter of its financial year from October to December, increasing the number of facilities registered since 2018 to 1 087.

The newly registered generators have a combined capacity of 605 MW and a collective investment value of R7.8-billion.

Most of the projects, 122 in total, are solar photovoltaic (PV) plants, with a combined capacity of 604 MW, with two projects with a combined capacity of 1 MW being solar PV generators combined with battery energy storage systems.

The Western Cape had the highest number of registrations during the period, 33 in total, with a combine capacity of 16 MW and an investment value of R222-million, but the North West attracted the biggest plants with the highest investment value.

The eight projects registered in the North West have a combined capacity of 372 MW and a combined investment value of R3.54-billion.

The Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces also attracted large projects, with the 11 generators in Limpopo having a combined capacity of 83 MW, while attracting R1.82-billion in investment and Mpumalanga’s five projects involving 77 MW and R1.3-billion in investment.

There were 23 registrations in Gauteng (16 MW and R222-million), 14 in KwaZulu-Natal (10 MW and R140-million), 14 in the Eastern Cape (18 MW and R284-million), 11 in the Free State (12 MW and R233-million) and five in the Northern Cape (1 MW and R13-million).

Nersa calculated the average investment cost for the third quarter to be R12 817/kW.

It also reported that 86 generation facilities, with a combined capacity of 568 MW and an investment value of R7.2-billion, are connected to the Eskom network while 38 generation facilities are connected to the municipal distribution network and generate a total of 37 MW, with an investment value of R500-million.

Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies’ Gaylor Montmasson-Clair, who tracks registrations over the calendar year, reported in January that a total of 4 530 MW of renewables generators had been registered with Nersa in 2023, which he said was  almost three times that registered in 2022, and more than 50 times the registration recorded in 2021.

Montmasson-Clair attributed the rise to government’s decision to remove licensing requirement on distributed projects.