Loadshedding Remains Suspended: Eskom Reports Lower Unplanned Outages Despite High Maintenance Levels

Loadshedding remains suspended as Eskom maintains sufficient capacity to meet demand during the long weekend, with the power utility noting a 2.7% year-on-year reduction in unplanned outages despite significantly increased planned maintenance operations.

System Status and Maintenance Operations

Eskom reports that the power system remains stable with adequate emergency reserves being used strategically to meet peak demand where necessary. Planned maintenance currently stands at 15.41% of generation capacity (8,974MW), marking a 3.8% increase compared to the same period last year.

This elevated maintenance level aims to enhance fleet reliability ahead of winter demand peaks while ensuring compliance with environmental and regulatory requirements.

The Unplanned Capacity Loss Factor (UCLF) has improved to 27.48% for the financial year-to-date (April 1-17, 2025), showing a reduction of approximately 2.7% from the 30.15% recorded during the same period last year.

Diesel Usage Declining But Still Elevated

The OCGT load factor decreased to 9.78% during the past week (April 11-17), down significantly from 29.95% recorded in the previous week. However, this figure remains above the 7.9% observed during the same period last year, indicating diesel usage is still higher than historical levels despite the recent reduction.

Eskom has spent approximately R1.67 billion on fuel for OCGTs since April 1, generating 284.40GWh – considerably higher than the 109.41GWh generated during the same period last year. The utility expects these costs to decrease as maintenance activities begin to slow down.

Generation Performance

From April 14-17, average unplanned outages reduced to 12,862MW, showing an improvement of 1,140MW compared to the same period last year. As of today, unplanned outages stand at 11,362MW, marginally down by 202MW from last week's 11,564MW.

Available generation capacity currently stands at 27,299MW, with tonight's peak demand forecasted at 23,593MW. Additionally, 3,948MW of generation capacity is scheduled to return to service before Tuesday evening (April 22).

The year-to-date Energy Availability Factor (EAF) stands at 56.63%, roughly equivalent to the same period last year (57.67%), with the slight decrease attributed to higher planned maintenance.

Winter Outlook

Eskom is scheduled to announce its official winter outlook later this month. The elevated maintenance levels suggest the utility is preparing for increased demand during winter months, while the return of additional generation capacity next week aims to further stabilize the grid.

With demand expected to increase as temperatures drop, Eskom has urged the public to help prevent transformer overloads and equipment failures by avoiding illegal connections and using electricity efficiently during the winter period.

Public Advisory

Eskom has requested the public to:

• Use electricity efficiently as winter approaches
• Avoid illegal connections to prevent transformer overloads
• Purchase electricity only from Eskom-accredited vendors
• Report illegal activity impacting infrastructure to the Eskom Crime Line (0800 112 722 or WhatsApp 081 333 3323)

Eligible households are encouraged to register for free basic electricity with their local municipalities.

Key Terms Explained

• Unplanned Capacity Loss Factor (UCLF): The percentage of generation capacity unavailable due to unexpected breakdowns or failures. Lower is better – it means fewer unexpected outages.
• Energy Availability Factor (EAF): The percentage of total generation capacity available to produce electricity. Higher is better – ideally above 65% for grid stability.
• Open-Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGTs): Diesel-powered generators that function as emergency backup but are expensive to run. The OCGT load factor indicates how intensively these units are being used.
• Gigawatt-hour (GWh): A unit of energy equal to one million kilowatt-hours. For perspective, 1GWh could power approximately 650,000 homes for one hour.
• Load Factor: The ratio of actual energy output compared to the maximum possible output. Higher percentages indicate the system is being run more intensively.