Eskom passes 525 days without load shedding as output hits six-year high

Eskom says South Africa has now gone more than 525 days in a row without load shedding, according to The Citizen. The power utility links the run to its strongest generation results in six years.

Eskom says more reliable power stations, fewer unplanned breakdowns and much lower diesel use are moving the grid away from crisis management and towards long-term stability. It also says millions of customers who were once hit by load shedding now have normal supply.

Stronger generation

Eskom’s Generation Recovery Plan is credited for the gains. So far this financial year, the share of its fleet available to produce power has averaged 68.1%, against 62.48% at the same point last year. Eskom says this is the best result for this part of the year in six years.

The utility says that compared with three years ago, about 6 424MW more generation capacity is now available. That gives the grid a bigger buffer and lessens the need for expensive emergency power.

Unplanned outages are also easing. Average breakdowns now stand at 9 108MW, well below the 16 172MW recorded three years earlier. Year on year, Eskom says, outages are 6.89% lower, which means roughly 3 115MW of capacity has returned to service.

Diesel bill shrinks

With the fleet performing better, Eskom has needed its diesel-fired open-cycle gas turbines far less. Diesel spending this financial year is R1.26 billion, compared with R6.07 billion in the same period last year. That is a saving of R4.81 billion, or 79.2%.

Electricity produced by these turbines is down by almost 84% on last financial year, the utility says.

Koeberg Unit 1

Eskom also said Koeberg’s Unit 1 was back on the grid on 20 October. The unit had been out after an electrical disturbance during maintenance testing. Eskom said the protection systems worked as designed and that “no nuclear safety concerns arose from the event”.

What this means for you

Nearly 5 000MW of generation capacity is currently available above demand, according to Eskom. That cushion is part of why the lights have stayed on for so long. Eskom says its aim now is to hold on to these gains and move from recovery to reliability and sustainability, with a stable supply backing economic growth.

For households and businesses, a long stretch without scheduled blackouts makes it easier to plan work, study and run small businesses. Eskom has not promised that load shedding is gone for good, and its own figures show the grid still depends on keeping breakdowns low.

This story is based on reporting by The Citizen.