Nersa registered 144 generation facilities from July to September, with 3,129MW of capacity and an estimated R78.16 billion of investment, the regulator said on 5 November 2026.

Solar photovoltaic projects were 139 of the 144 and account for 2,045MW. Three wind farms add 1,063MW, and the list is completed by one BESS (battery energy storage) project of 3MW and one co-generation plant of 18MW, according to Nersa’s first table.

By number of registrations, Gauteng led with 47, followed by the Western Cape with 36 and KwaZulu-Natal with 16. By capacity the order changes: the Western Cape registered 1,189MW, the Free State 543MW and Limpopo 484MW. The Northern Cape has a single registered project of 240MW, with R11 billion of investment.

The Western Cape recorded the highest investment, about R24.60 billion for 1,189MW. Limpopo followed on R16.27 billion and the Free State on R15.03 billion, according to the regulator’s second table.

Nersa said it processed the 144 applications in an average of nine working days. It compared that with 181 applications handled in an average of 10 working days in an earlier quarter of the 2025/26 financial year. It described the faster turnaround as progress in its evaluation of applications.

Capacity of generation facilities registered with Nersa each year since 2021, MW
20212021: 134 MW134 MW20222022: 1,646 MW1,646 MW20232023: 4,490 MW4,490 MW20242024: 4,164 MW4,164 MW20252025: 7,464 MW7,464 MW2026 to date2026 to date: 5,260 MW5,260 MW
20212021: 134 MW134 MW20222022: 1,646 MW1,646 MW20232023: 4,490 MW4,490 MW20242024: 4,164 MW4,164 MW20252025: 7,464 MW7,464 MW2026 to date2026 to date: 5,260 MW5,260 MW

Source: Nersa media statement of 5 November 2026, Table 3. 2026 covers the first, second and third quarters of the calendar year only. Chart: Rand Desk

Of the 144 facilities, 68 will connect to municipal distribution networks. Together they bring 50MW and about R584 million of investment. The other 76 will connect to the Eskom network, with 3,079MW and about R77.58 billion. Nersa put the average investment cost for the quarter at around R24,980 a kilowatt.

Nersa said registration ensures legal and technical compliance and attracts private investment.

Solar registrations were spread over all nine provinces: 47 in Gauteng, 34 in the Western Cape, 14 in KwaZulu-Natal and 13 in Limpopo, with the rest in single digits. The two Western Cape wind farms and one in Mpumalanga make up the wind total. The 68 municipal-network projects add 50MW between them, under 1MW each on average.

Since the registration regime began in 2018, Nersa has registered 2,763 facilities with 23,260MW and an estimated R487 billion of investment. The yearly table shows registered capacity of 7,464MW in 2025, from 597 facilities. For 2026 it lists 380 facilities and 5,260MW across the first three quarters of the calendar year.

Related reading: Ekurhuleni’s approval to buy 2,400MW from private generators, Eskom’s search for partners for up to 6GW of renewables and storage, and electricity generation falling 5.2% in September.

Nersa’s statement does not say when it will publish the next quarterly figures.