From April 2025 through March 2026, South Africa’s electricity consumption remained heavily dependent on fossil fuels, which supplied about 80% of the total. Coal alone accounted for roughly 79%, making it overwhelmingly the largest source. Low-carbon electricity supplied the remaining one-fifth: solar contributed almost 9%, wind and nuclear each provided about 5%, and hydropower supplied around 1%. Expanding clean electricity would help reduce the country’s dependence on coal and the associated climate-changing emissions and air pollution.

Is Electricity Growing in South Africa?

South Africa’s electricity consumption per person remains far below its historical peak, although low-carbon generation per person is growing. The latest 2026 consumption figure is about 3,500 kWh per person, compared with roughly 5,200 kWh in the record year of 2007—a decline of about 1,700 kWh, or one-third. That shortfall is concerning as electrification and new industries increase the need for electricity. By contrast, low-carbon generation reached a new record of about 700 kWh per person, exceeding the previous 2025 record of roughly 650 kWh by about 8%. This clean-electricity growth is encouraging, but the figures describe per-person trends and do not, by themselves, establish whether total national electricity consumption is growing.

Suggestions

South Africa can build on this progress by expanding solar, nuclear and wind generation alongside the electricity networks needed to deliver their output. Sunny regions offer useful examples: solar supplies about 24% of electricity generation in Chile, 21% in Australia and 35% in the US state of Nevada. Their experience can inform larger-scale solar deployment in South Africa. For nuclear, France generates roughly two-thirds of its electricity from this clean source, while the United Arab Emirates generates about one-fifth, demonstrating nuclear’s potential to supply a substantial share of electricity. South Africa should consider expanding its existing nuclear foundation alongside solar development. Wind can contribute further: Morocco generates about 20% of its electricity from wind and Uruguay about one-third. Together, these examples support a diversified expansion of low-carbon electricity to meet future demand and displace fossil-fuel generation.

History

The supplied historical figures highlight several periods of substantial low-carbon electricity growth. Nuclear generation increased by 3.9 TWh in 1984, 3.5 TWh in 1986 and 3.8 TWh in 1988, establishing an important clean-electricity foundation. Later gains included 2.4 TWh in 1994, followed by increases of 2.2 TWh in 2013 and 2.8 TWh in 2016. More recently, growth has involved several technologies: in 2021, nuclear generation increased by 2.4 TWh and wind by 2.2 TWh. Solar then delivered successive annual increases of 2.8 TWh in 2022, 4.4 TWh in 2023 and 3.5 TWh in 2024. Nuclear added another 2.4 TWh in 2025. These growth episodes show the value of developing multiple clean electricity sources and turning individual gains into sustained expansion.

Electricity Imports and Exports

Balance of Trade

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