Loadshedding suspension continues, marked by four months of constant power supply, 87 of which fall within the winter season – 35 000MW of available capacity reached for the first time in six years.
Friday, 26 July 2024: Eskom is pleased to announce the ongoing suspension of loadshedding, marking four months (121 consecutive days) of uninterrupted power supply since 26 March 2024, including 87 days of constant supply throughout the winter period.
Eskom reached a significant milestone on 23 July 2024 by achieving 35 000MW of available capacity, with an evening peak demand of 30 740MW. This level of available capacity has not been seen for six years, specifically since 16 July 2018. This achievement is attributed to reduced unplanned outages (UCLF and OCLF), which have dropped to 9 238MW.
Additionally, Eskom achieved an average Energy Availability Factor (EAF) of 70% over the past seven days.
The Generation Recovery Plan continues to deliver efficiencies for Eskom, with an approximate R9.09 billion reduction in Open-Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGTs) diesel expenditure from 1 April 2024 to 25 July 2024, compared to the same period last year.
The last time South Africa experienced such a prolonged loadshedding suspension was over four years ago, between 16 March 2020 and 9 July 2020, when loadshedding was suspended for 116 days.
Six power stations recorded an EAF greater than 70%, namely, Medupi, Kusile, Matla, Matimba, Grootvlei, and Lethabo, while an additional four power stations achieved an EAF above 60%.
As a result of Eskom’s Generation Operational Recovery Plan, our operational efficiency continues to surpass our winter assumptions. Current unplanned outages have averaged between 9 800MW and 12 400MW since 1 April 2024, the start of Eskom’s Financial Year (FY) 2025. Today’s figure has reduced to 10 617MW, significantly lower than the winter 2024 forecast.
The winter forecast, published on 26 April 2024, anticipated a likely scenario of unplanned outages at 15 500MW and loadshedding limited to Stage 2 – this remains in force.
Key Performance Highlights:
Reduction in unplanned outages
• The Unplanned Capacity Loss Factor (UCLF) has decreased to 26.5% for the financial year to date (1 April 2024 to 25 July 2024), improving from 35.0% in the corresponding period last year.
• This reduction in UCLF represents an ~ 8.5% improvement in the current financial year (1 April 2024 to 25 July 2024) compared to the same period last year.
• The unplanned outages of the generation units averaged a lower 9 841MW during the past 7 days compared to ~16 467MW in the corresponding week last year.
Planned Maintenance
The ongoing planned maintenance of 4 180MW aligns with our winter maintenance strategy, bolstered by short-term maintenance to ensure continuous plant reliability.
Sustained Energy Availability Factor (EAF) improvement
• The year-to-date (1 April 2024 to 25 July 2024) EAF increased to 62.5%. This is a significant improvement of ~ 7.5% compared to the same period last year (1 April 2023 to 25 July 2023), when the EAF was 55.0%.
• The weekly EAF has moved from 57.0% at the beginning of the financial year to ~ 70% from 19 July to 25 July 2024, a significant improvement of about 13.57%.
• The EAF improvement is primarily due to a drop in the unplanned outages (UCLF and OCLF) of the generation units, which averaged 10 478MW during the past 7 days.
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 (from 17:00 to 22:00).
• Our diesel consumption remains significantly below the projected figures for this winter and is considerably lower than the past two years from 1 April 2024 to 25 July 2024.
• Eskom’s expenditure on OCGTs between 1 April and 25 July 2024 was R3.37 billion, generating 493.16 GWh, approximately 73% (~R9.09 billion) less than the R12.46 billion spent last year over the same period for 2,072.87 GWh.
• The OCGT load factor for 1 April to 25 July 2024 continued to be much lower at 5.19% compared to last year’s figure of 21.81% over the same period.
• The OCGT load factor for 1 July to 25 July 2024 was 1.50%, significantly lower than last year’s figure of 23.82% over the same period.
• Eskom’s diesel usage remains below its published winter forecast and year-to-date budget.
A total of about 4 343MW of generating capacity is scheduled to return to service by Monday, 29 July 2024. This includes ~2000MW currently on cold reserve.
Eskom’s projected evening peak demand for today, Friday, 26 July 2024, is 29 088MW.
Save your transformer and save lives campaign
Eskom is facing recurring challenges of network overloading in certain regions. This issue is largely attributed to illegal connections, vandalism, meter tampering, unauthorised network operations, theft of network equipment, and the purchase of electricity from unlicensed vendors/sellers.
To avert potential dangers to public safety and the risk of network overloading which could lead to load reduction measures at any instance and extended unplanned power outages, Eskom strongly encourages customers to moderate their electricity usage during the suspension of loadshedding. It is also imperative that customers ensure their electrical connections are lawful and that they procure electricity solely from authorised vendors.
Eskom implores the public to play an active role in safeguarding 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.
We will provide an update next Friday, 2 August 2024, or promptly communicate any significant changes as soon as they occur.
ENDS