- Although the power system is still constrained, it remains stable, with emergency reserves being strategically utilised to meet electricity demand, especially during peak periods.
- The Unplanned Capacity Loss Factor (UCLF), or unplanned outages, for the financial year-to-date, stands at 25.85%.
Kusile Unit 2 is set to be reconnected to the repaired Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD) system and main stack by month-end. Unit 1 will be offline starting 31 March 2025, for similar work, in compliance with environmental authorisations.
Eskom continues to maintain high levels of planned maintenance as part of its efforts to improve fleet reliability in preparation for the high winter demand, while also meeting environmental license conditions and regulatory requirements. Currently, planned maintenance stands at 6 949MW.
Key Performance Highlights:
- From March 21 to 27 March 2025, average unplanned outages reduced to 14 039MW, showing an improvement of 992MW compared to the same period last year. Year-to-date average unplanned outages stand at 12 374MW, which is 626MW lower than the summer base case of 13 000MW.
- As of today, unplanned outages slightly reduced to 13 730MW compared to the previous week (13 733MW), while available generation capacity is 26 710MW, sufficient to meet tonight’s forecasted peak demand of 26 326MW.
- The year-to-date Planned Capacity Loss Factor is 12.62%, approximately 0.61% higher than the 12.01% recorded during the same period last year, indicating a slight increase in planned maintenance activities.
- The weekly Energy Availability Factor (EAF) slightly increased from 57.0% at the start of the financial year to 57.44% from 24 to 27 March 2025. The year-to-date EAF stands at 60.93%, an improvement of approximately 6.4% compared to the same period last year (54.54%), indicating higher availability of generation capacity.
- Year-to-date Eskom spent approximately R16.41 billion on fuel for the OCGT fleet, which is below budget, generating 2 764.87GWh. This is significantly lower than the 5 142.63GWh generated during the same period last year.
- The OCGT load factor decreased to 20.83% from 21 to 27 March 2025, compared to the previous week. However, it remains higher than last year’s value of 16.51%. Year-to-date, the OCGT load factor has stabilised at 9.35%, lower than last year’s figure of 17.34%.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
Information source: Eskom
