All 51 solar farms providing power to South Africa

There are 51 solar power stations that are feeding clean energy into South Africa’s grid, as of October 2023.

That is according to the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy’s IPP Projects database.

These independently operated plants have widely varying capacities — from as little as 5MW to as much as 175MW for a multi-phase installation —  and combine for a maximum output of over 2,700MW.

Solar is an attractive energy source for South Africa because the country gets copious amounts of sunshine for much of the year.

The vast majority of solar farms in South Africa use photovoltaic (PV) panels, which have cells that can absorb sunlight and create electrical charges due to an internal electrical field, resulting in the flow of electricity.

The Solar Capital De Aar Project is the biggest solar farm in South Africa, with a combined output of 175MW across two phases

Many South Africans will be familiar with this technology, as it is also used for rooftop solar installations at homes and businesses.

Instead of putting the panels on a roof, large-scale PV solar farms have their panels mounted in the ground.

These can be installed with either a fixed mount or a rotatable axis that can re-orient the panels to face the ideal direction for optimal generation.

According to the IPP project database, nearly 2,300MW of the country’s solar power comes from PV plants, with another two 75MW facilities currently under construction.

However, there are also six concentrated solar plants (CSPs) with a combined capacity of 500MW.

Instead of light energy, these plants use the sun’s thermal energy to produce electricity.

Four of these have a capacity of 100MW — making them the largest single solar farms in the country — while two more boast 50MW capacities.

Another 100MW facility — Redstone CSP — is set to come online in the fourth quarter of 2023.

The most prevalent type used in South Africa — the linear concentrator system — uses U-shaped mirrors that focus the heat on temperature fluid-filled tubes that run across the length of the mirrors.

Kathu Solar Park with linear concentrator system.

Another popular configuration is the power tower, which consists of multiple circular rows of mirror-like panels called heliostats, which direct the sun’s heat to a central tower with a receiver container that holds a temperature fluid.

The molten salt typically used at these power plants as the temperature fluid can hold heat for several days if not converted to electricity, effectively acting as a battery for long-term power storage.

That means CSPs can contribute power to the grid during the evening peak electricity demand periods — when large parts of the country are in darkness.

The contribution of CSPs during the worst levels of load-shedding — typically during the evening peaks — can often be seen in Eskom’s daily peak demand statistics, while PV provides no megawatts during this period.

Unfortunately, although they have higher efficiency and availability ratings, CSP construction carries a much higher upfront capital cost than PV plants.

The Khi Solar One CSP plant uses the power tower configuration. At peak generation, the receiving tower with temperature fluid can look like something out of sci-fi.

Like wind power plants, most solar farms are located in the Cape provinces.

However, there are also a handful scattered across the central and northern parts of the country — including in Free State, North West, and Limpopo.

Many areas in these provinces also offer copious amounts of sunshine throughout the year.

Unlike the Cape provinces, transmission grid capacity is available in these regions — allowing new plants built in these areas to start feeding power into the grid.

The table below summarises the solar power plants feeding electricity into Eskom’s grid in South Africa as of September 2023. Unless indicated otherwise, the plant uses PV technology.

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