Eskom marks its longest stretch of uninterrupted power supply in five years

Loadshedding remains suspended for 240 consecutive days since 26 March 2024, contributing to economic growth and energy security as a result of further structural improvement in the coal-fired fleet.

The plan has resulted in year-on-year diesel savings of R16.33 billion, approximately 71.2% less than the R22.94 billion spent during the same period last year. Diesel usage remains below the year-to-date budget.

Tuesday, 19 November 2024 marked the longest period of uninterrupted supply in South Africa in five years.

Over the past week, the average total unplanned outages have dropped to 10 478MW, a notable improvement from 16 367MW recorded during the same period last year — representing a reduction of 5 890MW. 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.

Today’s unplanned outages are at 10 170MW, which is 2 830MW lower than the summer 2024 base case, indicating enhanced operational efficiency in the past week.

Eskom’s EAF was maintained at an average of 64.5% over the past week and 63.1% year-to-date, with top-performing stations — including Medupi, Kusile, Matla and peaking facilities — achieving an average of and above 70% EAF. Five other power stations recorded EAFs above 60%.

In August, Eskom shared its Summer Outlook for the period from 1 September 2024 to 31 March 2025, predicting a likely scenario of a loadshedding-free summer due to structural generation improvements. This outlook remains unchanged.

Key Performance Highlights:

Reduction in unplanned outages:
• The Unplanned Capacity Loss Factor (UCLF) is at 25.0% for the financial year-to-date (1 April 2024 to 21 November 2024), improving from 33.6% in the corresponding period last year.
• This reduction in UCLF represents an ~8.4% improvement compared to the same period last year.

Ongoing Planned Maintenance:
Ongoing planned maintenance is at 8 402MW, aligning with our summer maintenance strategy to further increase the reliability of the stations in preparation for winter 2025 and beyond.

Sustained Energy Availability Factor (EAF) improvement:
• The year-to-date (1 April 2024 to 21 November 2024) EAF is at 63.1%, a significant improvement of ~7.6% compared to the same period last year (55.5%).
• The weekly EAF has improved from 57.0% at the beginning of the financial year to 64.5% from 18 to 21 November 2024, an improvement of 7.5%.
• This improvement is primarily due to a drop in unplanned outages (UCLF and OCLF) of the generation units.

Continued strategic utilisation of Open-Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGTs):
Our strategic use of peaking stations, including pumped storage and OCGTs, remains key in managing electricity demand during peak times, particularly during evening peaks (17:00 to 22:00).

• Eskom’s expenditure on OCGTs between 1 April and 21 November 2024 was about R6.61 billion having generated 1 019.44GWh, approximately 71.2% (R16.33 billion) less than the R22.94 billion spent last year over the same period for 3 684.31GWh.
• The OCGT load factor for 1 April to 21 November 2024 reduced to 5.29 %, compared to last year’s figure of 19.13%.
• The OCGT load factor for 1 to 21 November 2024 was 4.19%, significantly lower than the 27.36% for the same period last year.
• Diesel usage remains below the year-to-date budget.

‘Save Your Transformers, Save Lives’ campaign
While loadshedding remains suspended, Eskom continues to face network overloading issues in certain local areas 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. Such actions can negatively impact the entire local community and result in hefty remedial fines. It is also essential for customers to purchase electricity only from authorised vendors.

Eskom urges the public to help protect the integrity of the power network by reporting any illegal activities to the Eskom Crime Line at 0800 112 722 or via WhatsApp at 081 333 3323.

We will provide an update on Friday, 29 November 2024, or promptly communicate any significant changes as soon as they occur.