Eskom reports over 500 days without load-shedding in South Africa

South African power utility Eskom has reported a significant period of stability, recording over 500 consecutive days without implementing load-shedding. The utility stated that unplanned outages have improved by 6.67% year-on-year, returning approximately 3,001MW of generation capacity to service.

Eskom’s Energy Availability Factor (EAF) has reached 68.2% for the current financial year to date, marking its highest level in six years. This operational improvement has resulted in a substantial reduction in diesel expenditure for emergency generation, with costs dropping to R1.18 billion from R6.05 billion during the same period last year.

The utility is also making progress in its load reduction elimination programme, which aims to protect infrastructure from overloading and illegal connections. The number of affected customers has declined by 88.6%, from approximately 1.69 million to 193,556. While seven provinces have achieved full elimination, efforts continue in remaining areas of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal to reach the goal of complete eradication by 2027.