Eskom said on Friday that South Africa’s power system remains stable, with month-to-date energy availability at 71% and unplanned outages at an eight-year low.

The state-owned utility reported that unplanned outages fell to less than 6GW on 14 September 2025, down 5.6GW year on year. For the week of 12-18 September, unplanned outages averaged 7.5GW, well below 13.1GW in the same week last year. Planned maintenance averaged 5.2GW over the period, aligned to Eskom’s summer plan.

South Africa has recorded 126 consecutive days without load shedding. Eskom said demand has been met “over 97% of the time” in the current financial year.

Month-to-date, the “energy availability factor” (EAF) has fluctuated between 70% and 74%, averaging 71.1%. Year-to-date EAF stands at 62.2% excluding Kusile unit 6, slightly below 63.4% for the same period last year. Kusile unit 6 has contributed 720MW since 23 March but is not yet in commercial operation; Eskom expects that milestone by 30 September.

The EAF is the percentage of Eskom’s total generating capacity that is available to supply electricity over a given period.

Diesel use continues to trend lower week on week. Eskom spent R9-million last week for 1.4GWh from open-cycle gas turbines (a 0.25% load factor). However, on a year-to-date basis from 1 April to 18 September, OCGT output rose to just over 1TWh at a cost of R5.9-billion, above last year’s 715.7GWh. The year-to-date OCGT load factor is 7.15% versus 5.11% a year earlier. Eskom said diesel spend remains below budget in the current financial year.

Planned maintenance

Key performance metrics for 1 April to 18 September show the “unplanned capability loss factor” (UCLF) at 26.1%, an improvement of about 0.5 percentage points week on week but 0.6 points higher than the 25.47% recorded a year ago. Planned maintenance has averaged 5.2GW, or 11.2% of capacity, up 0.6 points year on year.

The UCLF measures how much generating capacity is lost when units break down or are forced offline unexpectedly. A higher number means more breakdowns and poorer fleet reliability; a lower figure indicates fewer breakdowns and greater stability.

Read: Worst of electricity price hikes is over: Eskom CEO

Eskom’s summer outlook, published on 5 September and covering 1 September 2025 to 31 March 2026, forecasts no load shedding due to structural improvements in plant performance. — (c) 2025 NewsCentral Media

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