The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) registered 124 generation facilities with a combined capacity of 804 MW during the first quarter of its 2026/27 financial year.
Two wind facilities accounted for 71% of the registered capacity of 568 MW while 122 solar photovoltaic (PV) facilities accounted for the remaining 236 MW, according to NERSA.
The registrations, completed between April and June, represent an estimated investment value of R20,2 billion.
The two wind facilities are located in the Northern Cape and Mpumalanga. Solar PV accounted for most of the registrations by number with facilities registered across all nine provinces. The Western Cape recorded 39 solar PV registrations totalling 17 MW, followed by Gauteng with 33 facilities totalling 132 MW and Limpopo with 17 facilities totalling 9 MW.
The Northern Cape led by registered capacity and estimated investment value. Five facilities totalling 440 MW were registered in the province, representing an estimated investment of R11,9 billion. Mpumalanga followed with seven facilities totalling 182 MW and an estimated investment value of R4 billion.
Of the 124 registered facilities, 61 are connected to the Eskom network. These account for 757 MW of the registered capacity and approximately R19,5 billion of the estimated investment, NERSA said.
The remaining 63 facilities are connected to municipal distribution networks and have a combined capacity of 47 MW and an estimated investment value of R639 million.
Processing time improves
NERSA says it processed the 124 registration applications within an average of 10 working days.
“This is an improvement from the 2025/26 financial year’s first quarter when 111 applications for registration were processed within an average of 11 working days,” the regulator said.
The average estimated investment cost of the facilities registered during the quarter was R25 099/kW.
Since the registration regime began in 2018, NERSA has registered 2 619 generation facilities with a combined capacity of 20 131 MW and an estimated investment value of approximately R409 billion.
The regulator’s figures show that 597 facilities totalling 7 464 MW were registered during 2025 compared with 476 facilities totalling 4 164 MW in 2024 and 405 facilities totalling 4 490 MW in 2023.
