Loadshedding remains suspended: Eskom nears longest uninterrupted power supply in five years, achieves R12.06 billion in diesel savings year-on-year

Friday, 18 October 2024: The Generation Operational Recovery Plan is on track to deliver yet another milestone, with the longest stretch of uninterrupted power supply in five years. The milestone will be reached on Day 206 of loadshedding suspension that falls on Saturday, 19 October 2024. Today, loadshedding remains suspended for 205 consecutive days since 26 March 2024.

Eskom’s Energy Availability Factor (EAF) averaged 62% over the past week and 63% year-to-date. Top-performing stations such as Kusile, Duvha, and the peaking stations continue to maintain an EAF above 70%. Additionally, three other power stations sustained an EAF above 60%.

Operational efficiency over the past seven days has slightly declined compared to summer expectations, with unplanned outages ranging between 11 500MW and 13 900MW. However, today’s unplanned outages are at 10 649MW, which is 2 351MW lower than the summer 2024 base case, indicating that operational efficiency is starting to improve compared to the past week.

Eskom’s current available generation capacity stands at 30 113MW, with an evening peak forecast of 25 862MW for 18 October 2024. Additionally, approximately ~1 880MW of generating capacity is scheduled to return to service by the evening peak on Monday, 21 October 2024.

In August, Eskom shared its summer outlook for the period from 01 September 2024 to 31 March 31 2025, predicting a likely scenario of a loadshedding-free summer due to structural generation improvements. This outlook remains unchanged. Additionally, Eskom confirmed that the completion dates for Kusile Unit 6 and Koeberg Unit 2 are set for the end of December 2024, while Medupi Unit 4 is expected to return by the end of March 2025.

Key Performance Highlights:

Reduction in unplanned outages:
• The Unplanned Capacity Loss Factor (UCLF) is at 25.5% for the financial year to date (01 April 2024 to 17 October 2024), improving from 33.79% in the corresponding period last year.
• This reduction in UCLF represents a ~8.3% improvement compared to the same period last year.

Ongoing Planned Maintenance:
Ongoing planned maintenance is at 5 798MW, aligning with our summer maintenance strategy to further increase the reliability of the stations in preparation for winter 2025 and beyond.

Sustained Energy Availability Factor (EAF) improvement:
• The year-to-date (01 April 2024 to 17 October 2024) EAF is at 63.0 %, a significant improvement of ~7.5% compared to the same period last year (55.5%).
• The weekly EAF has marginally improved from 57.0% at the beginning of the financial year to 61.9% from 14 October to 17 October 2024, an improvement of 4.9%.
• This improvement is primarily due to a drop in unplanned outages (UCLF and OCLF) of the generation units.

Continued strategic utilisation of Open-Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGTs):
Our strategic use of peaking stations, including pumped storage and OCGTs, remains key in managing electricity demand during peak times, particularly during evening peaks (17:00 to 22:00).

• Eskom’s expenditure on OCGTs between 01 April and 17 October 2024 slightly increased to R6.18 billion having generated 943.51GWh, approximately 66% (R12.06 billion) less than the R18.24 billion spent last year over the same period for 2 976.92GWh.
• The OCGT load factor for 01 April to 17 October 2024 was 5.76 %, compared to last year’s figure of 18.17%.
• The OCGT load factor for 01 October to 17 October 2024 was 4. 59%, significantly lower than the 8.95% for the same period last year.
• Diesel usage remains below the year-to-date budget.

‘Save Your Transformers, Save Lives’ campaign
While loadshedding remains suspended, Eskom continues to face network overloading issues in certain local areas due to illegal connections, vandalism, meter tampering, unauthorised network operations, theft of network equipment, and purchasing electricity from unlicensed vendors.

To prevent public safety hazards and the risk of network overloading which can lead to load reduction measures and extended unplanned power outages, Eskom strongly urges customers to avoid illegal connections, as this can negatively impact the entire local community. It is also essential for customers to ensure they purchase electricity only from authorised vendors.

Eskom urges the public to help protect the integrity of the power network by reporting any illegal activities to the Eskom Crime Line at 0800 112 722 or via WhatsApp at 081 333 3323.

As we approach 24 November 2024, Eskom also encourages customers to recode their meters to prevent them from expiring and causing a loss of electricity.

We will provide an update on Friday, 25 October 2024, or promptly communicate any significant changes as soon as they occur.

ENDS