Live mix › Data › December 2023
South Africa's electricity mix in December 2023
In December 2023 South Africa's grid generated 17 703.6 GWh, of which coal supplied 76.3%. Demand averaged 24 017 MW and peaked at 29 794 MW on 7 December 2023.
Where the electricity came from
| Source | GWh | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Coal | 13 513.6 | 76.3% |
| Wind | 1 041.8 | 5.9% |
| Imports | 1 019.8 | 5.8% |
| Nuclear | 832.1 | 4.7% |
| Solar PV | 484.3 | 2.7% |
| Pumped storage | 340.2 | 1.9% |
| Diesel peakers | 233.3 | 1.3% |
| Concentrated solar | 137.8 | 0.8% |
| Hydro | 91.4 | 0.5% |
| Other renewables | 9.1 | 0.1% |
| Gas | 0.2 | 0.0% |
| Total supply | 17 703.6 | 100% |
Load shedding in December 2023
Eskom shed 557 GWh of demand across 265 hours, affecting 13 of the 31 days in the month. The heaviest single day was 7 December 2023, when 63.3 GWh was shed. Separately, contracted industrial customers on interruptible supply were curtailed by 3.8 GWh. That is demand management, not load shedding.
How this month compared
Carbon intensity averaged 805 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 9.3% of generation.
Figures are calculated from Eskom's published hourly data. Rooftop solar sits behind the meter and is not included.