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South Africa — Energy Infrastructure

OverWatts maps 397 energy assets in South Africa across 15 layers — the 21st-largest mapped base of 157 countries. They include 172 power plants, 140 coal / uranium mines and 22 cement plants. Operating generation capacity is 59.7 GW, led by coal at 75%. Refining capacity is about 288 kb/d.

The companies named on the most assets are Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd (25), Blue Crane Environmental (17) and Menar Capital Pty Ltd (14), counting both ownership and operatorship. Half of South Africa's mapped assets in service predate 2011 (median commissioning year of the 145 with a known date), 53 came online in the past decade and the oldest still listed is Slurry Cement Plant, dating from 1916. 40+ projects are under construction or proposed, led by JER Green Hydrogen Solar PV Project (South Africa) (12.0 GW).

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397
Total assets
#21
of 157 countries
59.7 GW
operating · 172 power plants
288
Refining kb/d
9
LNG Mtpa
40
In construction / proposed

Operating generation capacity by fuel

Utility-scale sites of 100 MW and above. Distributed generation — rooftop solar especially — is outside the tracker, so this runs below national installed capacity.

Electricity generated by fuel · 2025

What the fleet actually produced — distinct from the installed capacity above.

Total 243 TWhDemand 237 TWhClean 18%Intensity 699 gCO₂/kWhNet exporter 5.9 TWh

Ember · source · CC-BY-4.0

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Browse by asset class

Power grid 33,200 kmPower Plants 172Coal & Uranium Mines 140Cement Plants 22Iron Ore Mines 14Pipelines 11Export Terminals 8LNG Terminals 7Grid Storage 5Iron & Steel Plants 5Oil & Gas Fields 4Refineries 2Interconnectors 2Data Centres 2Chemical Plants 2Storage / Tank Farms 1

Under construction & proposed

Largest assets

Biggest owners & operators

Counts an asset once per company named as its owner or operator; a joint venture counts for each partner.

Frequently asked

How many energy assets does South Africa have?
OverWatts maps 397 in South Africa across 15 asset classes — the 21st-largest mapped base of the 157 countries covered.
How much electricity generation capacity does South Africa have?
About 59.7 GW operating across 66 plants, mostly coal 75%, hydro 6% and wind 5%.
Who owns South Africa's energy infrastructure?
Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd is named as owner or operator on the most mapped assets (25), followed by Blue Crane Environmental (17), Menar Capital Pty Ltd (14) and Exxaro Resources Ltd (11).
What energy projects are under construction in South Africa?
The largest under way or proposed are JER Green Hydrogen Solar PV Project (South Africa) (12.0 GW), Coega power station (3.0 GW) and Richards Bay (Eskom) power station (3.0 GW).