Eskom says its Generation Recovery Plan continues to deliver results.
South Africa’s electricity recovery has gained further momentum, with Eskom reporting its strongest generation performance. Picture: iStock
South Africa’s electricity recovery has gained further momentum, with Eskom reporting its strongest generation performance in six years.
The country has now surpassed 525 consecutive days without load shedding.
The power utility says sustained improvements in plant reliability, fewer unplanned outages, and a dramatic decline in diesel use are helping shift the grid from crisis management to long-term stability, while millions of customers previously affected by load shedding have been restored to normal supply.
Generation recovery
Eskom says its Generation Recovery Plan continues to deliver results, with the utility recording a financial year-to-date Energy Availability Factor (EAF) of 68.1%, up from 62.48% during the same period last year.
The utility said the improvement represents approximately 6 424MW of additional available generation capacity compared with three years ago, providing greater resilience to the national grid and reducing dependence on costly emergency generation.
“This remains the highest financial year-to-date EAF achieved in six years, reflecting the impact of sustained operational improvements and structural interventions implemented across the generation fleet,” Eskom said.
Unplanned outages
The utility added that unplanned outages have continued to decline, with average breakdowns falling by 7 064MW over the past three years, from 16 172MW to 9 108MW.
“Unplanned outages have improved by 6.89% year-on-year, representing approximately 3 115MW of generation capacity returned to service compared with the corresponding period last year,” Eskom said.
Billions saved
Improved generation reliability has significantly reduced Eskom’s reliance on diesel-fired Open-Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGTs), resulting in substantial savings.
According to the utility, year-to-date diesel expenditure has dropped by R4.81 billion, or 79.2%, to R1.26 billion, down from R6.07 billion in the corresponding period last year.
“The continued low utilisation of OCGTs reflects improved fleet performance and reduced reliance on diesel-fired generation to meet electricity demand,” Eskom said.
The utility also reported that OCGT generation has fallen by almost 84% compared with the previous financial year, highlighting the turnaround in operational performance.
Koeberg
Eskom confirmed that Koeberg Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 was successfully resynchronised to the national grid on 20 October following recovery work after an electrical disturbance during maintenance testing activities.
“The protection systems operated as designed and performed their intended function of protecting plant equipment and maintaining nuclear safety. No nuclear safety concerns arose from the event,” Eskom said.
Eskom focus
With nearly 5 000MW of generation capacity currently available above demand, Eskom said the focus is now on sustaining operational gains, improving reliability, and supporting economic growth through a stable electricity supply.
“The sustained improvement in generation availability, declining unplanned outages, lower diesel expenditure, and substantial reduction in load reduction demonstrate continued progress in strengthening Eskom’s operational performance.
Eskom said the focus is now on sustaining these gains and progressively shifting from recovery to reliability and sustainability.
