Eskom said that it has saved around R15.16 billion that would have been spent on diesel as the company’s Generation Recovery Plan continues to bear fruit.
The state utility noted that spending on diesel for open-cycle gas turbines has fallen by some 69.9% when compared to the amount spent last year.
Eskom said that last week the average total unplanned outages dropped to 11,235MW, a notable improvement from 16,422MW recorded during the same period last year, representing a reduction of 5,187MW.
“This continuous progress in minimising unplanned outages allows Eskom to increase planned maintenance activities and ensures greater generation capacity is available to meet the nation’s electricity needs,” the utility said.
The state utility also said that Load shedding has been suspended for at least 231 days.
In 2024, South Africa only had 83 days of load shedding and the outlook for a load shedding-free summer remained a very real possibility.
Energy Availability Factor
Last week, Eskom was able to maintain an Energy Availability Factor (EAF) of over 60%.
“Eskom’s EAF was maintained at an average of 61.4% over the past week and 62.8% year-to-date, with top-performing stations including Kusile, Medupi, and peaking facilities achieving an average of and above 70% EAF. Four other power stations recorded EAFs above 60%”.
“With an available generation capacity of 29,157MW, Eskom remained on track to meet the country’s electricity demand,” the power utility said.
Still some issues
Eskom said that while load shedding remained suspended, the organisation continues to face network overloading issues in certain local areas.
This is due to illegal connections, vandalism, meter tampering, unauthorised network operations, theft of network equipment, and purchasing electricity from unlicensed vendors.
“To prevent public safety hazards and the risk of network overloading, which can lead to load reduction measures and extended unplanned power outages, Eskom strongly urges customers to avoid illegal connections,” the utility said.
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