South Africa’s Power Utility, ESKOM, Suspends Load, Slashes Diesel Costs by R16.5bn

South Africa’s state electricity provider, Eskom, has reported a dramatic improvement in power supply reliability, with continuous electricity available 99% of the time since April 2024, marking a significant turnaround from just 10% during the same period in the previous year. The utility has also achieved substantial cost savings of R16.54 billion in diesel expenditure, representing a 59.7% reduction compared to the previous year.

The performance improvement is underscored by the successful return to service of Kusile Unit 3, which has been reconnected to the repaired Flue Gas Desulphurisation system and main stack. This development follows environmental authorization from the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment (DFFE), with Units 2 and 1 scheduled for reinstatement by March 26 and June 2025, respectively.

The utility has maintained the suspension of load shedding – South Africa’s term for scheduled power cuts – for 309 days (7,451 hours) in the current financial year, compared to just 32 days (2,043 hours) in the previous period. This improvement reflects enhanced operational efficiency and generating capacity.

Key performance metrics show significant progress across multiple areas. The Unplanned Capacity Loss Factor has improved to 25.38% for the financial year-to-date, down from 32.58% in the corresponding period last year. The Energy Availability Factor has risen to 61.56%, marking a 6.8% improvement from the previous year’s 54.78%.

Operational data indicates that unplanned outages have decreased to an average of 13,118MW over the past week, showing an improvement of 1,437MW compared to the same period last year. The current available generation capacity stands at 27,917MW, comfortably exceeding the forecasted peak demand of 25,314MW.

The utility’s diesel consumption has also seen marked improvement. Eskom reports spending R11.14 billion on fuel for Open Cycle Gas Turbine fleet operations between April 2024 and February 2025, generating 1,825.10GWh – significantly lower than the 4,394.88GWh generated during the same period last year. The OCGT load factor has decreased to 7.14% from the previous year’s 17.19%.

The company maintains an active planned maintenance program, with 7,183MW currently under maintenance as part of its summer strategy to improve reliability for Winter 2025 and beyond. An additional 2,750MW of generating capacity is scheduled to return to service by February 10, 2025, further strengthening grid stability.

Despite these improvements, Eskom continues to face challenges with illegal connections and unauthorized electricity sales. The utility has issued appeals to the public to avoid illegal connections and to purchase electricity only through accredited vendors, providing dedicated crime reporting channels for suspicious activities.

The performance improvements align with Eskom’s Summer Outlook projections for the period September 2024 to March 2025, which remain unchanged from their original publication in August 2024.