South Africa's electricity mix in July 2023
In July 2023 South Africa's grid generated 18 902.9 GWh, of which coal supplied 78.1%. Demand averaged 26 678 MW and peaked at 33 873 MW on 10 July 2023.
Where the electricity came from
| Source | GWh | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Coal | 14 769.4 | 78.1% |
| Wind | 1 040.4 | 5.5% |
| Imports | 992.7 | 5.3% |
| Nuclear | 656.8 | 3.5% |
| Diesel peakers | 528.6 | 2.8% |
| Pumped storage | 452.2 | 2.4% |
| Solar PV | 324.5 | 1.7% |
| Hydro | 68.1 | 0.4% |
| Concentrated solar | 41.7 | 0.2% |
| Other renewables | 27.1 | 0.1% |
| Gas | 1.4 | 0.0% |
| Total supply | 18 902.9 | 100% |
Load shedding in July 2023
Eskom shed 1 484 GWh of demand across 582 hours, affecting 31 of the 31 days in the month. The heaviest single day was 14 July 2023, when 98.5 GWh was shed. Separately, contracted industrial customers on interruptible supply were curtailed by 7.2 GWh. That is demand management, not load shedding.
How this month compared
Carbon intensity averaged 835 grams of CO₂ per kilowatt-hour, against a world average of 458 g/kWh in 2025 and an Africa average of about 530 g/kWh. Renewables (wind, solar PV, CSP and other renewables reporting to Eskom) supplied 7.5% of generation.
Figures are calculated from Eskom's published hourly data. Rooftop solar sits behind the meter and is not included.