Loadshedding remains suspended for 10 months on Sunday, diesel usage remains below year-to-date budget
Friday, 24 January 2025: The focused execution of the Generation Recovery Plan continues to deliver the suspension of loadshedding for 303 consecutive days since 26 March last year.
A further substantial milestone of 300 days without loadshedding was reached on Tuesday 21 January and 10 months without loadshedding will be achieved on Sunday 26 January, further demonstrating the progress in Eskom’s turnaround strategy.
Year-to-date diesel savings (on a year-on-year basis) are currently at R16.40 billion, which is about 62.4% less than the R26.27 billion spent during the same period last year.
Last August, Eskom shared its summer outlook for the period from 1 September 2024 to 31 March 2025, predicting a likely scenario of a loadshedding-free summer due to structural generation improvements. This outlook remains unchanged.
Key Performance Highlights:
• Average unplanned outages over the past week were 12 717MW, a 1 119MW improvement compared to the same period last year.
• Year-to-date unplanned outages average 12 060MW, remaining below the summer base case of 13 000MW by 940MW.
• As of today, unplanned outages stand at 11 772MW, while available generation capacity is 27 961MW, sufficient to meet tonight’s forecasted peak demand of 24 461MW.
• The Unplanned Capacity Loss Factor (UCLF) is at 25.25% for the financial year-to-date (1 April 2024 to 23 January 2025), improving from 32.68% in the corresponding period last year. This represents a ~7.4% improvement.
• The weekly EAF slightly improved from 57.0% at the beginning of the financial year to 59.58% from 20 January 2025 to 23 January 2025, while the year-to-date EAF is at 61.79%, a significant improvement of ~6.9% compared to the same period last year (54.9%).
• Ongoing planned maintenance at 7 739MW aligns with our summer maintenance strategy to further improve reliability in preparation for winter 2025 and beyond.
• Strategic use of peaking stations, including pumped storage and OCGTs, remains available to manage electricity demand during peak times, particularly during evening peaks (17:00 to 22:00).
•Between 1 April 2024 and 23 January 2025, Eskom spent approximately R9.87 billion, which is below budget, generating 1 604.72GWh. This is significantly lower than the 4 185.65GWh generated during the same period last year.
•The OCGT load factor for 1 April 2024 to 23 January 2025 stabilised at 6.57%, compared to last year’s figure of 17.14%.
•The OCGT load factor for 17 to 23 January 2025 was 5.95%, higher than the 4.65% for the same period last year.
‘Save Your Transformers, Save Lives’ campaign
While loadshedding is currently suspended, Eskom is dealing with network overloading issues in certain areas due to illegal connections, vandalism, meter tampering, unauthorised network operations, theft of network equipment, and purchasing electricity from unlicensed vendors.
Public Appeal:
- Avoid Illegal Connections: These can cause public safety hazards, network overloading, and lead to load reduction measures and unplanned power outages. They also negatively impact the community and can result in hefty fines.
- Purchase from Authorised Vendors: Ensure you buy electricity only from Eskom-accredited vendors. For a list of authorised outlets, visit the provided link. https://www.eskom.co.za/distribution/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/2024123Vending-outlets.xlsx
- Report Illegal Activities: Help protect the power network by reporting any illegal activities to the Eskom Crime Line at 0800 112 722 or via WhatsApp at 081 333 3323.
We will provide an update on Friday, 31 January 2025, or promptly communicate any significant changes as soon as they occur.
ENDS
