Eskom passes 540 days without load shedding and turns to keeping the lights on for good
Breakdowns are down by about 7,000MW in three years, diesel spending has fallen 79%, and 1.6 million customers are back on normal supply.
Johannesburg — South Africa's power utility Eskom has now gone more than 540 days without load shedding, and says its focus is shifting from recovering the power system to sustaining it.
In a statement carried by SAnews, Eskom said its Energy Availability Factor had reached 68.16%, with about 6,481MW of generation capacity recovered compared with three years ago.
Fewer breakdowns, less diesel
Unplanned outages are down 6.05% on a year ago, about 2,720MW returned to service. Over three years, average unplanned outages have fallen by about 7,076MW, from 16,167MW to 9,092MW.
Because it is relying less on diesel-fired gas turbines, Eskom has spent R1.26 billion on diesel so far this financial year, R4.81 billion (79.19%) less than in the same period last year.
Room to grow
Eskom says it now has about 6,855MW of available capacity above current demand. "This additional capacity provides an opportunity to support energy-intensive industries, new investment, industrial growth and strengthening South Africa's potential role as a regional electricity hub through increased export sales," it said.
Load reduction nearly gone
About 1.6 million customers who were affected by load reduction, the targeted cuts in areas with high losses, are back on normal supply, shrinking the number affected by 94%, from about 1.69 million to 102,551. Eskom aims to end load reduction by March 2027.
Source: SAnews, November 2026.
