By Johannesburg — South Africa’s energy landscape continues to register structural recovery, with Eskom posting a weekly Energy Availability Factor (EAF) above 70% for the second consecutive week. Reaching 70.44% between 18 and 24 September 2026, the utility has propelled its year-to-date EAF to 68.06%—marking its highest level in six years.
The sustained turnaround has reinforced the country’s grid stability, maintaining a milestone of 497 consecutive days without loadshedding since 16 May 2025.
Key Operational Gains and Fleet Reliability
Driving the performance improvements is a sharp decline in unplanned outages and a progressive shift from emergency recovery to long-term plant reliability.
- Unplanned Outages: Average unplanned outages (UCLF) decreased to 7,622MW from 9,633MW during the same week last year, representing a 21% reduction. For the financial year to date, UCLF reduced to 19.09%, an improvement of 6.83% compared to the previous year.
- Capacity Restoration: Compared to three years ago, EAF has improved by 12.8%, successfully returning approximately 6,461MW of generation capacity to the grid. Currently, more than 50% of the coal fleet operates at EAF levels above 70%.
- Environmental Compliance: Eskom exceeded its particulate emissions reduction target, achieving 0.32 kg/MWhSO against a target of 0.35 kg/MWhSO, maintaining this compliant performance since October 2025.
Fiscal Relief Through Lower Diesel Expenditure
The stabilization of the generation fleet has drastically reduced reliance on Open Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGTs), providing significant financial relief.
From 1 April to 24 September 2026, diesel expenditures plummeted by R4.78 billion (80.56%), dropping from R5.94 billion to R1.16 billion compared to the same period in 2025. Over this timeframe, the OCGT load factor contracted sharply from 6.97% to 1.05%, remaining well beneath the annual target threshold of 3%. Furthermore, Eskom maintains 6,571MW in cold reserve due to excess capacity, bolstering overall system adequacy.
Load Reduction Eradication Programme Progress
Parallel to macro-grid stability, Eskom is advancing its Load Reduction Eradication Programme, aimed at eliminating load reduction by March 2027.
- Seven of South Africa’s nine provinces are completely free from load reduction, restoring approximately 1.4 million customers to normal supply conditions.
- The total number of impacted customers has dropped from 1.69 million to 247,617, which accounts for roughly 3.4% of Eskom’s customer base.
- While localized challenges driven by illegal connections, meter tampering, and infrastructure overloading persist primarily in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, more than 60% of previously affected customers in those two provinces have already been normalized.
To secure these high-risk areas permanently, Eskom has deployed 517,810 smart meters—reaching nearly 90% of its high-priority target—alongside expanding Free Basic Electricity (FBE) registrations to 546,576 customers.
As operational efficiencies compound, Eskom’s ongoing turnaround continues to provide a stable macroeconomic foundation for South African industrial and economic growth ahead of the upcoming summer outlook announcement.
