From April 2025 to March 2026, South Africa’s electricity consumption remained overwhelmingly dependent on fossil fuels: about 80% came from fossil sources, with coal alone supplying roughly 79%. Low-carbon sources provided the remaining one-fifth. Solar was the largest clean electricity source at almost 9%, followed by wind and nuclear at about 5% each, while hydropower contributed around 1%. This leaves substantial scope to expand clean electricity and reduce the climate-changing emissions and air pollution associated with coal.

Is Electricity Growing in South Africa?

South Africa’s electricity consumption per person is not growing relative to its historical peak. The latest 2026 figure is about 3,500 kWh per person, compared with roughly 5,200 kWh in 2007—a decline of about 1,700 kWh, or one-third. That shortfall is concerning as electrification and growing digital industries, including AI, increase the need for electricity. Low-carbon electricity generation, however, has reached a new per-person record: about 700 kWh, up from approximately 650 kWh in 2025. This increase of 51 kWh per person, or around 8%, is encouraging, although the figures alone do not establish whether total electricity consumption increased over the latest year.

Suggestions

South Africa should build on this clean electricity growth by expanding solar, wind and nuclear generation, alongside the grid infrastructure needed to deliver it. Sunny regions offer useful solar examples: Chile generates about 24% of its electricity from solar, Australia about 21%, and the US state of Nevada about 35%. Their experience can help inform South Africa’s expansion of large solar projects and rooftop installations. For wind, Morocco’s roughly 20% share and Uruguay’s one-third share demonstrate substantial contributions in relevant regional and emerging-market settings. Nuclear should also play a larger role: France generates about two-thirds of its electricity from nuclear, while the United Arab Emirates generates one-fifth. These examples show how sustained investment in nuclear can complement expanding solar and wind, helping South Africa increase clean electricity supply rather than merely replace existing generation.

History

South Africa’s low-carbon electricity history shows substantial nuclear contributions followed by increasingly strong solar growth. In the 1980s, nuclear generation increased by 3.9 TWh in 1984, 3.5 TWh in 1986 and 3.8 TWh in 1988, interrupted by a 2.6 TWh decline in 1987. Further nuclear setbacks occurred in 1990, 2001 and 2005, alongside a 2.4 TWh gain in 1994. Growth resumed with gains of 2.2 TWh in 2013 and 2.8 TWh in 2016, but subsequent declines in 2018, 2020 and 2022 represented disappointing losses of clean electricity output. Hydropower also fell by 5 TWh in 2019. More encouragingly, 2021 brought increases of 2.4 TWh in nuclear and 2.2 TWh in wind; solar then added 2.8 TWh in 2022, 4.4 TWh in 2023 and 3.5 TWh in 2024. Nuclear’s additional 2.4 TWh in 2025 reinforces the opportunity to pursue sustained growth across these clean electricity sources.

Electricity Imports and Exports

Balance of Trade

* 12M = Last 12 months (Apr 2025 – Mar 2026) — a rolling 12-month period, not a calendar year.