- South Africa’s power system continues to show strong stability, with Eskom reporting significant improvements in generation performance, reduced unplanned outages and declining diesel use as the country enters the final month of 2025.
- The utility said on Friday that the system has consistently met national electricity demand, driven by ongoing progress under its Generation Recovery Plan.
Eskom confirmed that the Energy Availability Factor for November reached 68.29%, up from 61.9% a year earlier, marking a 6.39% improvement. Year-to-date, EAF stands at 63.7%, with the fleet surpassing the 70% threshold on 39 occasions. The improved performance has helped strengthen grid stability and reduce the need for expensive diesel-powered generation, with 5 474MW currently held in cold reserve as a result of excess capacity.
Over the past week, Eskom spent just R8.24 million on diesel, limited to environmental compliance tests on three Open-Cycle Gas Turbine units. Diesel expenditure remains below budget for the financial year, and year-to-date OCGT use has fallen below levels recorded over the same period last year — the first time this has occurred in the current financial year. Between April and early November, OCGTs generated 1 042.86GWh at a cost of R6.193 billion, down from 1 103.83GWh the previous year. Diesel consumption has also declined each month since May, and OCGTs have not been used since 28 November.
Unplanned outages have continued to fall, with the average Unplanned Capacity Loss Factor between 28 November and 4 December sitting at 22.56%, down from 23.61% last year. Eskom reported an average of 10 785MW in breakdowns over the week, a year-on-year reduction of 729MW. Planned maintenance rose to an average of 11.62%, still well below last year’s 16.95% for the same week. Year-to-date, UCLF has improved to 24.37%, compared with 24.96% last year.
South Africa has now gone 203 consecutive days without supply interruptions, aside from 26 hours of loadshedding recorded in April and May. Eskom expects to bring 3 600MW of generation capacity online ahead of the evening peak on Monday, with tonight’s peak demand forecast at 22 637MW and available capacity at 27 500MW. The utility’s Summer Outlook, released in September, forecasts no loadshedding for the remainder of the season due to sustained improvements in fleet performance.
While the generation system remains stable, Eskom said distribution networks, particularly in Gauteng, continue to face challenges from adverse weather, illegal connections and meter tampering, forcing ongoing load reduction in high-risk areas. The utility is implementing a phased plan to eliminate load reduction by 2027, targeting 971 feeders and aiming to benefit 1.69 million customers.
As part of this effort, Eskom has installed 58,540 smart meters on affected feeders, with a target of 577,347 by March 2026 and full rollout by 2027. Two feeders in Limpopo have already been removed from load-reduction schedules, benefiting roughly 971 customers. Nationally, 576,376 customers remain on the list to be removed from load reduction before the end of the financial year.
The number of households registered for Free Basic Electricity has grown from 485,000 to 584,848, a 20.6% increase, now covering 27.9% of the 2.1 million eligible customers. Eskom said it remains focused on modernising infrastructure, expanding smart technologies and working with communities to build a safer and more reliable electricity network for the country.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
