5 September 2025

112 Days Without Loadshedding: Eskom Reports 7,055MW Unplanned Outages and 73% EAF

Eskom's power system continues to demonstrate stability, with South Africa now experiencing 112 consecutive days without loadshedding as of Friday, 5 September 2025. The utility reports unplanned outages have decreased to 7,055MW, remaining well below the critical 10,000MW threshold that typically triggers loadshedding.

Key Performance Metrics Show Continued Improvement

The month-to-date Energy Availability Factor (EAF) has exceeded the 70% target, reaching 73.01% - a significant improvement from the sub-50% levels experienced during the 2023 loadshedding crisis. This upward trend reflects growing stability across the generation fleet as Eskom implements its Generation Recovery Plan.

Between 29 August and 4 September 2025, planned maintenance increased to an average of 4,946MW as Eskom entered the summer maintenance schedule. Despite this higher planned maintenance, the EAF has fluctuated consistently between 64% and 75% in recent days.

Minimal Loadshedding in 2025

According to Eskom, South Africa has experienced no loadshedding since 15 May 2025, with only 26 hours recorded between 1 April and 4 September 2025. The sustained technical improvements have ensured a reliable power system, meeting more than 97% of electricity demand during winter and the financial year to date.

The power utility also reports that the Unplanned Capability Loss Factor (UCLF) has decreased to 26.9% between 1 April and 4 September 2025. While this represents a week-on-week improvement of approximately 0.4%, it remains about 1.4% higher than the 25.49% recorded during the same period last year.

Diesel Spend Down, Additional Capacity Coming

One of the most notable achievements is the minimal use of Open-Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGTs) or diesel generators, which saw a load factor of just 0.001% last week, down from 0.16% the previous week. This indicates Eskom has barely needed to rely on its expensive emergency generation capacity.

To further strengthen grid stability, Eskom is planning to return a total of 3,738MW of generation capacity to service ahead of the evening peak on Monday, 8 September 2025, and throughout the coming week.

The available generation capacity currently stands at 29,359MW, while tonight's electricity demand is expected to reach 24,770MW - providing a comfortable buffer of around 4,500MW.

Kusile Unit 6 Contributing

Kusile Unit 6 has been contributing 720MW to the national grid since 23 March 2025. While not yet in commercial operation, the unit is expected to reach that milestone by September 2025, further bolstering the generation capacity.

Outlook: Loadshedding-Free Summer Projected

Eskom has published its Summer Outlook for the period 1 September 2025 to 31 March 2026, forecasting no loadshedding due to the structural progress in plant performance resulting from the ongoing Generation Recovery Plan.

The utility attributes its strong winter performance to adding approximately 4,000MW of capacity, which it says has led to the projected loadshedding-free summer. However, it's important to note this projection assumes continued stability and no major unexpected outages.

Year-to-date, the EAF stands at 61.41% (excluding Kusile Unit 6's contribution), which is below the 63.6% recorded during the same period last year. Eskom attributes this to a 1.4% increase in unplanned maintenance and a 0.8% increase in planned maintenance compared to 2024.

Warning Against Illegal Connections

Eskom continues to urge customers to avoid illegal connections and meter bypassing, which place strain on the network and often lead to transformer overloads and equipment damage. The utility implements load reduction in high-risk areas during peak hours to prevent potential infrastructure damage.

Customers are encouraged to purchase electricity only through Eskom-accredited vendors, and eligible households are reminded to register for free basic electricity with their local municipalities.

Key Terms Explained

• Energy Availability Factor (EAF): The percentage of maximum energy generation that a plant is capable of supplying to the electrical grid, limited only by planned and unplanned outages. A 73% EAF means 73% of Eskom's total theoretical capacity is available for generation.
• Unplanned Capability Loss Factor (UCLF): The percentage of generation capacity lost due to unplanned outages. This includes breakdowns, trips, and other unexpected losses. A UCLF of 26.9% means nearly 27% of Eskom's generation capacity is unavailable due to unexpected problems.
• Open-Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGTs): Emergency power generation units that run on diesel fuel. They're expensive to operate (costing approximately R4-5 per kWh compared to coal at around R0.40 per kWh) and are typically only used during peak demand or when other generation capacity is unavailable.
• Megawatt (MW): A unit of power equal to one million watts. For context, 1MW can power approximately 650-1,000 average South African homes, depending on consumption patterns.
• Gigawatt-hour (GWh): A unit of energy representing one million kilowatt-hours. South Africa typically consumes around 30,000 GWh of electricity per month.