By South Africa’s energy landscape is undergoing a structural shift from emergency recovery to long-term reliability. Power utility Eskom has announced that its financial year-to-date Energy Availability Factor (EAF) has climbed to 68.1%, marking its highest level in six years.
This operational turnaround has underpinned a remarkable milestone: the country has recorded 525 consecutive days without load shedding since May 16, 2025.
Fleet Performance and Capacity Gains
The sustained execution of the Generation Recovery Plan has injected approximately 6 424 MW of additional available generation capacity into the grid compared to three years ago.
- Unplanned Outages: Unplanned outages (measured by the Unplanned Capacity Loss Factor, or UCLF) decreased to 18.98% for the financial year-to-date, reflecting a 6.58% improvement year-on-year. Over a three-year horizon, average unplanned outages have dropped by 7 064 MW (falling from 16 172 MW down to 9 108 MW).
- Planned Maintenance: Eskom maintained a disciplined maintenance schedule, with planned maintenance averaging 12.77% of total generation capacity (6 074 MW) for the financial year-to-date, balancing immediate reliability with fleet longevity.
- Current Cushion: Eskom currently reports 4 961 MW of available generation capacity above current demand requirements, providing a vital buffer to stimulate economic activity and industrial growth.
Drastic Reduction in Diesel Expenditures
The enhanced performance of the base-load coal fleet has drastically reduced Eskom’s reliance on expensive, diesel-fired Open-Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGTs).
- Financial year-to-date diesel expenditures dropped by R4.81 billion (or 79.20%), falling to R1.26 billion compared to R6.07 billion over the corresponding period last year.
- The OCGT load factor stands at a minimal 0.98%, comfortably below the annual target of 3%.
- Comparing annual spends, diesel expenditure has plummeted by R23.0 billion from the financial year ending March 2023 to the year ending March 2026.
Progress on Load Reduction and Localised Interventions
While national load shedding remains a thing of the past, Eskom continues to tackle localized load reduction driven by illegal connections, overloading, and meter tampering. However, significant ground has been covered toward the utility’s target to eradicate load reduction entirely by March 2027.
- Customer Relief: Approximately 1.5 million customers have been restored to normal electricity supplies, shrinking the affected base by 88.6% down to 193 556 customers (representing roughly 2.7% of Eskom’s total customer base).
- Provincial Status: Seven out of South Africa’s nine provinces are completely free from load reduction, with remaining impacts isolated to parts of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
- Smart Meter Rollout: Eskom has installed 524 375 smart meters on high-loss feeders, achieving 91% of its high-priority target despite facing localized safety hurdles and intimidation. Furthermore, registrations for Free Basic Electricity (FBE) have grown by 16% to 561 229 beneficiaries.
Operational Resilience and Outlook
Environmental performance remains stable, with relative particulate emissions kept within the target threshold of 0.35 kg/MWhSO. Meanwhile, Koeberg Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 was successfully resynchronized to the grid on October 20, 2026, following a brief protective shutdown prompted by an electrical disturbance during maintenance on Unit 2, with no nuclear safety risks recorded.
As Eskom shifts focus from crisis recovery to permanent operational sustainability, the steady supply of reliable electricity serves as a foundational pillar for South Africa’s broader economic expansion.
