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Pumped storage in South Africa
Ingula, Drakensberg and Palmiet act as the grid's batteries: pumping water uphill when demand is low and generating at the peaks. Since April 2022 pumped storage has generated 19 564.7 GWh, which is 2.0% of everything South Africa's grid produced in that time.
Generated since 202219 564.7GWh
Share of all generation2.0%
The highest output recorded was 2 825 MW, at 12:00 on 8 March 2025.
Pumped storage year by year
| Year | GWh | Share of generation |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3 350.7 | 2.0% |
| 2023 | 4 300.4 | 2.0% |
| 2024 | 4 642.9 | 2.1% |
| 2025 | 4 502.0 | 2.1% |
| 2026 | 2 768.7 | 2.0% |
Where pumped storage sits in the mix
| Source | GWh | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Coal | 755 003.0 | 78.6% |
| Wind | 49 271.5 | 5.1% |
| Imports | 41 296.1 | 4.3% |
| Nuclear | 40 822.5 | 4.3% |
| Solar PV | 22 140.7 | 2.3% |
| Pumped storage | 19 564.7 | 2.0% |
| Diesel peakers | 15 822.7 | 1.6% |
| Hydro | 8 846.2 | 0.9% |
| Concentrated solar | 6 031.0 | 0.6% |
| Other renewables | 1 185.1 | 0.1% |
| Gas | 25.2 | 0.0% |
| Total supply | 960 008.7 | 100% |
Calculated from Eskom's published hourly data. Rooftop solar is behind the meter and does not appear here.