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SA's renewable energy contribution has plateaued since 2023, Eskom data shows

Total RE contribution per year

Total RE contribution per year

23rd January 2026

     

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Renewable energy’s contribution to South Africa’s yearly generation has not grown since 2023, according to data from Eskom’s National Transmission Company of South Africa.

The reason for this is that the demand for electricity had decreased owing to the “uptake of behind-the-meter PV”, Eskom said. That is the off-the-grid solar installations that households and businesses (commercial and industrial) have installed over the past few years.

In its weekly system update reports, Eskom estimates that rooftop solar PV has increased from 2 574.3 MW of installed capacity in December 2022 to 7 463.6 MW in December 2025 – a 190% increase in three years.

The off-the-grid installations have reduced the demand for power from the national grid during the day, but they have not reduced the demand over morning and evening peak periods, says Eskom.

This means dispatchable generators, predominantly coal, need to generate over these peak periods, it says.

“Coal-fired generators take many hours to shut down and start up, making it impractical to shut them down during the low-demand periods in the early hours of the morning and during the middle of the day,” says Eskom.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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