World Small Hydropower Development Report 2013 - South Africa

Abstract

South Africa has a total electricity generation capacity of about 45,000 MW. Nearly 90 per cent of electricity is generated in coal-fired power stations. Koeberg, a large nuclear station near Cape Town, provides about five per cent of capacity, while the remaining five per cent is provided by hydropower and pumped storage schemes. Currently about 700 MWi of installed hydropower capacity exists in the country. Electricity generation is dominated by Eskom, the state-owned utility. Eskom also owns and operates the national electricity grid. It supplies about 95 per cent of South Africa's electricity and is one of the world’s top seven energy producer in terms of generating capacity; one of the world’s top nine in terms of sales, and it has one of the world's biggest dry-cooled power stations - Matimba Power Station (coal-fired; installed capacity 3,990 MW). South Africa, which for many years operated with overcapacity, has begun to experience a power crisis induced by rapid growth in electricity demand, coupled with prolonged under-investment in new generation capacity. Since the end of the apartheid rule, South Africa has gone from an overall 36 per cent electrification rate in 1993 to 80 per cent in 2007 and a further 81 per cent by 2012. Rural electrification, specifically, stands at 63 per cent.