South Africa: 928MW of New Photovoltaic Installations Were Added in The First Quarter

    According to SAPVIA's estimation, South Africa will add approximately 928 MW of new photovoltaic capacity in the first quarter of 2025. This includes 280 MW of projects that have been connected to the grid through the country's flagship "Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Program" (REIPPPP) since December 2024, as well as 647 MW of non-REIPPPP photovoltaic projects. It is expected that the new installed capacity this year will exceed 1.1 GW of 2024.

    SAPVIA stated that by the middle of 2025, the cumulative installed capacity of photovoltaic power in South Africa is estimated to be 9457 MW. The association said: "As of July 2025, the total scale of photovoltaic projects reached 1.0078 GW, accounting for the vast majority of the total 14.9 GW reserve projects. In addition, there are still 11 REIPPPP projects under construction."

REIPPPP is a significant driving force for the large-scale photovoltaic market in South Africa. In July this year, the South African government approved six new photovoltaic projects in the seventh round of procurement, with a total installed capacity of 1290MW. This is the largest commitment for utility-scale photovoltaic projects in South Africa this year.

    This 1290MW capacity comes from the reallocation of unused indicators for onshore wind power projects. SAPVIA stated: "This strategic move ensures that the unused wind power capacity can be quickly redirected to photovoltaic projects that can be rapidly deployed and connected to the grid, thereby strengthening South Africa's commitment to accelerating its clean energy transition."

Apart from REIPPPP, the South African market is gradually adopting a scheme that combines energy storage with renewable energy to enhance grid stability.

    SAPVIA also pointed out that the industrial and commercial (C&I) market in South Africa has promising prospects. Since June 2024, 100MW-scale projects ranging from 100 kilowatts to 1MW have been registered, and another 250MW-scale projects ranging from 1MW to 50MW have also been filed for approval.

    In contrast, with the end of "load shedding", the residential photovoltaic market in South Africa has shown signs of slowing down. The association stated: "From the number of new photovoltaic installation companies that have applied for the PV GreenCard membership, this trend is quite obvious, but it is still impossible to quantify at present."

    Earlier this year, the South African government officially approved the national renewable energy master plan, with the goal of deploying at least 3 GW of new renewable energy annually, and increasing it to 5 GW by 2030.

    In August this year, the South African state-owned power company Eskom launched a renewable energy power purchase program, targeting large electricity consumers who are interested in signing power purchase agreements. The first round of bidding involved a capacity of 291MW for photovoltaic power. (This article is translated from pv-magazine. Please indicate the source when reprinting.)