Eskom’s power system remains stable as unplanned outages fall by 3 338MW to their lowest level in nine years today, while the EAF continues to rise

Friday, 26 December 2025:  South Africa’s national power system remains stable and continues to meet electricity demand, underpinned by sustained and measurable improvements in Eskom’s generation performance. The Generation Recovery Plan is delivering results. Combined with intensive planned maintenance undertaken over the past year, it has strengthened the generation fleet, improved reliability, and enhanced Eskom’s operational resilience.

The Energy Availability Factor (EAF) stands at 67.55% month-to-date in December 2025, representing a significant year-on-year improvement of 10.5% from 57.06% recorded over the same period in 2024. Year-to-date, EAF has increased to 64.04%, with the fleet achieving or exceeding the 70% benchmark on 42 occasions. This performance confirms sustained recovery and reinforces confidence in the stability and security of the national electricity supply.

These improvements are driven primarily by the reduction in unplanned outages, reflecting the effectiveness of the Generation Recovery Plan and the benefits of disciplined maintenance execution.

For the period 19 to 25 December 2025, average unplanned outages decreased to 8 493MW, down from 11 831MW in 2024—a significant reduction of 3 338MW. Notably, today, unplanned outages dropped to 5 559MW, a level last recorded in 2016, demonstrating the tangible and sustained turnaround in generation performance

Over the same period, the Unplanned Capacity Loss Factor (UCLF) declined to 17.72%, improving by 7.44 percentage points compared to 25.16% during the same period last year.

During the same period, the average Planned Capacity Loss Factor (PCLF) stood at 10.75%, compared to 19.24% recorded last year. The lower level of planned maintenance follows Eskom’s intensive maintenance programme implemented in the previous year—above historical norms over the past three years—to restore fleet reliability. The effectiveness of this approach is reflected in the sustained decline in unplanned outages.

Planned maintenance continues to align with Eskom’s maintenance schedule and forms part of ongoing efforts to improve plant reliability, operational consistency, and long-term fleet performance.

The continued improvement in EAF has significantly reduced Eskom’s reliance on costly diesel generation, allowing the company to focus more on cost-effective primary energy sources. Additionally, 12 325MW is currently on cold reserve due to excess capacity and low usage during the December holidays.

No diesel was utilised during the past week, resulting in an expenditure of R0.0 million. This lack of consumption reflects both the cost savings and the operational improvements achieved through Eskom’s turnaround efforts. Overall, this positive trend underscores the growing stability and efficiency of the power system.

Year-to-date, diesel expenditure remains consistently below budget.

South Africa has now experienced 224 consecutive days without an interrupted supply, with only 26 hours of loadshedding recorded in April and May during this financial year.

To maintain a stable electricity supply, Eskom will bring 3 070MW of generation capacity online ahead of the evening peak on Monday, 29 December 2025. Today’s evening peak demand is forecast at 18 875MW, supported by 22 970MW of available capacity, giving the system a healthy margin above current demand.

Eskom published the Summer Outlook on 5 September 2025, covering the period 1 September 2025 to 31 March 2026, which projects no loadshedding due to sustained improvements in plant performance from the Generation Recovery Plan.

Key Performance Highlights

• Year-to-date, the UCLF further reduced to 24.09%, reflecting a week-on-week improvement of approximately 0.91% and remaining below last year’s 25.00%.

• Year to date, planned maintenance was at an average of 5 377MW, accounting for 11.44% of total generation capacity, slightly lower than last week’s 11.46% but significantly lower than the 12.16% over the same period last year.

• Between 1 April and 25 December 2025, Eskom generated 1 049.38GWh from OCGT plants, incurring diesel costs of R6.232 billion. This is lower than the 1 385.03GWh produced during the same period last year at a cost of R8.618 billion. Notably, diesel consumption has been declining steadily month-on-month since May 2025, and the load factor for December month-to-date is 0.32%.

• The year-to-date OCGT load factor has further decreased to 4.76%, reflecting a 0.13% improvement from the previous week. This is lower than the 6.28% recorded during the same period last year and remains below the set target.

Progress in Ending Load Reduction: 84 366 customers no longer affected during peak periods

Although the power system remains stable and generation capacity continues to exceed demand, illegal connections and meter tampering persist, causing infrastructure damage and posing serious safety risks. In response, Eskom continues to implement load reduction as a temporary measure in high-risk areas to protect both communities and the electricity network.

To address these challenges sustainably, Eskom has launched a phased programme to eliminate load reduction by 2027. The programme targets 971 feeders and will benefit approximately 1.69 million customers across all provinces, out of Eskom’s total customer base of 7.2 million. Key interventions include the rollout of smart meters, the integration of Distributed Energy Resources, and the expansion of Free Basic Electricity support.

Progress on key interventions

• Smart Meter Rollout:

Eskom has installed and uploaded 72,499 smart meters on feeders affected by load reduction, with more than 90% of these installations located in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, and KwaZulu‑Natal. The programme aims to install a total of 577,347 meters by March 2026, with full completion expected in 2027. Current progress stands at approximately 12.6% of the overall target, and installations continue steadily to ensure the programme’s milestones are achieved

• Feeders Removed from Load Reduction:

As with last week, the total number of feeders removed from load reduction remains at 52. This includes 11 feeders in Limpopo and Mpumalanga (30% of the target of 37), 37 in Gauteng (29% of the target of 126), and 4 in the Eastern and Western Cape (27% of the target of 15).

Nationally, the 52 feeders removed from load reduction represent about 19% of the overall target of 271 feeders to be removed from load reduction by March 2026.

Efforts continue to accelerate feeder removals to meet both provincial and national targets.

• Customers Benefiting

With no new feeders removed this week, the feeders already taken off load reduction continue to benefit an estimated 84,366 customers: 27,855 in Limpopo and Mpumalanga, 48,876 in Gauteng, and 7,635 in the Eastern and Western Cape. Consequently, the number of customers still due for load‑reduction removal by financial year‑end remains at 91,769 in Limpopo and Mpumalanga, 96,606 in Gauteng, and 17,867 in the Eastern and Western Cape. Nationally, 492,981 customers, 85.39% of the target, still need to be cleared by March 2026.

• Free Basic Electricity (FBE):

Nationally, registrations remain unchanged this week at 579,360 customers. This reflects a 19.5% increase from the baseline of 485,000 customers and represents 27.6% of the 2.1 million eligible customers.

Eskom is harnessing technology, upgrading infrastructure, and partnering with communities to ensure a safer, smarter, and more reliable power network for South Africa.

Eskom calls on communities to report illegal connections, use electricity responsibly, and protect infrastructure. Any illegal activity affecting Eskom’s infrastructure can be reported to the Eskom Crime Line at 0800 112 722 or via WhatsApp at 081 333 3323.

Eskom will provide its next update on Friday, 02 January 2026, or communicate any significant developments as they occur.

ENDS