As it prepares to deliver its summer outlook, Eskom is highlighting “structural progress in its plant performance,” which it attributes to implementation of its generation recovery plan.
“With just over a week remaining in Eskom’s winter outlook period, the power system remains well-positioned to maintain stability and reliably meet demand,” the power utility said.
“Sustained technical improvements have ensured a reliable power system, meeting more than 97% of electricity demand this winter and financial year to date.”
On Friday unplanned outages were at 7,265MW. This was the first time the generation fleet has operated below the 8,000MW mark since December 11 2020.
Eskom said between August 15 and 25 2025, planned maintenance increased slightly, averaging 5,524MW. During this time, the energy availability factor fluctuated between 63% and 69%, with the month-to-date average rising to 64.98%.
“The upward trend reflects growing stability and improved reliability across the generation fleet. The figures exclude Kusile unit 6, which has been contributing 720MW to the national grid since March 23 2025. Though not yet in commercial operation, the unit is expected to reach the milestone by September 2025.”
To further strengthen grid stability, Eskom is planning to return a total of 4,850MW of generation capacity to service ahead of the night peak on August 25 and throughout the coming week.
Between April 1 and August 21, the unplanned capability loss factor), which reflects the percentage of generation capacity lost due to unplanned outages, decreased to 27.85%. This represents a week-on-week improvement of about 0.29%, though it remains about 2.0% higher than the 25.81% recorded during the same period last year.
The open-cycle gas turbine (OCGT) load factor decreased to 0.78% last week from 1.21% the previous week (August 8 to 14), with OCGTs used strategically to address occasional system constraints during morning and night peak periods.
Eskom said from April 1 to August 21, diesel spend remains within the allocated budget. In the five months, Eskom spent R5.916bn on fuel for its OCGT plants, generating 999.95GWh of electricity.
“This represents a significant increase compared to the 525.44GWh produced during the same period last year,” Eskom said.
The energy supplier issued a call to the public to act within the law.
“To help maintain a stable and uninterrupted electricity supply, customers are strongly urged to avoid bypassing meters and refrain from illegal connections.
“The illegal connections and meter bypassing not only constitute theft but also place immense strain on the network, often leading to transformer overloads, equipment damage and, in severe cases, explosions and extended outages.
“Electricity should be purchased only through Eskom-accredited vendors.”
While load-shedding remains suspended, Eskom said it is implementing load reduction by switching off power during peak hours in high-risk areas to prevent potential damage to its infrastructure.
TimesLIVE
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