This week:
- Latest REIPPPP projects coming online
- REIPPPP projects hit 7GW capacity
- SA still among world’s largest coal-for-power users
- All the renewables project news you might have missed
Happy new year.
The end of 2025 saw a flurry of independent renewable power projects coming online that pushed the amount of government contracted capacity connected to the grid past 7GW.
But even though renewable projects are increasing, coal is definitely not dying. SA is still among the 10 that generate the most electricity from coal.
Let’s start with a roundup of what’s happened in the renewable energy procurement programme in the past month.
Three solar projects, Grootfontein 1, 2 and 3, and the San Kraal Wind Farm came online, adding a combined 365MW to the grid.
Since 2011, the government has held seven bid windows under the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP), contracting more than 12GW of renewable capacity. About 60% of that capacity (7GW) is operational. This includes all projects from the first four bid windows and seven projects from bid window five.
The bulk of this capacity – 3.778GW (54%) – is in the Northern Cape. The Eastern Cape follows with 1.496GW and the Western Cape with 1.097GW.
SA still in top coal-using countries worldwide
South Africa is one of the top countries in the world for the amount of electricity it generates from coal. It ranked seventh in 2024, generating just over 200TWh of coal-powered energy. 2024 is the latest year of data available from Ember, an energy think tank.
South Africa’s coal use ticked up in 2024 after a dismal year of loadshedding in 2023. And with no loadshedding in 2025, the International Energy Agency expects SA’s coal consumption to remain stable until 2030.
Global coal production reached a record high in 2024 and is expected to remain at a similar level in 2025, according to IEA forecasts. Most of the coal is used to generate power. China and India are the main drivers of this growth.
South Africa is also one of the world’s biggest coal exporters. It exported over 61 megatonnes of bituminous coal in 2025, according to SARS trade data. Although this is the lowest quantity since 2013, with India being the main export market, receiving 29 megatonnes in 2025, it looks like SA will have a market for its coal for a while.
NEWS WRAP
⚡️ Nersa has updated the process for allocating grid capacity from ‘first come, first served’ to ‘first ready, first served’. The Grid Capacity Allocation Rules, published in the Government Gazette on 24 December 2025, aim to ensure that grid access is granted fairly and that the available capacity is used efficiently by prioritising projects that are ready to connect.
🔌 Nersa has also extended the deadline for consultation on South Africa’s electricity trading rules to 31 January. The South African Wholesale Electricity Market is expected to be launched on 1 April 2026 and there are concerns about Eskom’s role.
🚦 US President Donald Trump has signed a presidential memorandum directing the US to withdraw from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The move is described as a strategic blunder that will result in US businesses and communities losing ground in “the booming clean-energy economy,” by the World Resources Institute, an independent research organisation.
☀️ SDG Namibia One Fund has signed a development funding agreement worth up to $5.15-million with Zhero Europe, an Italian developer of clean energy projects, to develop a solar-powered, industrial-scale green ammonia facility near Walvis Bay.
🌬️ Acciona Energy is set to start building two new wind farms in the Western Cape, Zen (100 MW) and Bergriver (94 MW). Etana Energy, an electricity trader, will buy all the electricity generated by the two facilities to supply its customers.
☀️ Solarcentury Africa’s Gerus solar PV plant in Namibia started operating in December. The 19.3 MWp plant was built to sell electricity into the Southern African Power Pool.
✅ The Department of Electricity and Energy announced four more preferred bidders in its renewable energy procurement programme bid window 7 bringing the number of independent power projects in this bid window to 18. Red Rocket South Africa is the lead developer for three of the four newly appointed preferred bidders’ projects, ENGIE is the lead developer for the fourth.
☀️ Soshanguve Plaza shopping centre is the latest retail centre to bring a solar and battery energy storage system online. The project includes a 5.14 MWp rooftop and ground-mounted solar photovoltaic plant and a 5.0 MWh battery energy storage system. Annual generation is estimated at approximately 8.43 GWh.
💵 Germany’s development finance institution DEG has led a consortium of European partners to provide a $300-million syndicated loan to FirstRand Bank for renewable energy financing. FirstRand has committed to mobilising R450-billion in sustainable and transition finance by 2030, with R200-billion already deployed.
WEBINARS
🎤 Kick off the year with an in-depth look at SA’s energy outlook in 2026. Hosted by Creamer Media, speakers include the SA Independent Power Producers Association, Discovery Green, Energy Council of South Africa and more.
🎤 Part 2 of the Engineering News Energy Outlook webinar series will be on 3 February and the topic is: Investing in SA’s Electricity Transmission Grid. Register here.
132 wind and solar projects have been awarded preferred bidder status by the SA government as part of its programmes to procure electricity from independent power producers. 101 (76.5%) of those projects are reported to be operational at the end of 2025.