Great news for load shedding in South Africa

Power utility Eskom has hit 100 consecutive days without load shedding.
The last time the country saw such a prolonged period without load shedding was from 8 September 2020 to 11 December 2020.
The group attributed the achievements to its operational recovery plan that was initiated in March 2023 amid some of the worst load shedding on record, which included an aggressive maintenance plan and other operational improvements.
Alongside a significant drop in demand from users amid the rollout of alternative energy generation—such as rooftop solar—and South Africans heeding the call to cut energy usage, Eskom’s programme has also resulted in enhanced reliability and performance of its generation fleet.
This is evident in the energy availability factor (EAF), which is averaging around 61.5% – a remarkable turnaround from the 50% levels seen during the over 12-month period of “permanent load shedding” in 2022/23.
“If we maintain a 70% Energy Availability Factor (EAF) and add significant capacity within the country, we can ensure adequate available capacity to meet demand without a significant risk of load shedding,” said Bheki Nxumalo, Group Executive for Generation.
The group has gradually reduced breakdowns and unplanned losses in the fleet from 18,000MW to an average of 12,000MW.
Eskom Group Chief Executive Dan Marokane said the achievement is remarkable but warned that the threat of load shedding has not disappeared.
“The ability to get to 100 days without load shedding is significant while acknowledging that the risk of load shedding still exists,” he said.
Eskom also noted that it has become less reliant on costly open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs) to keep the lights on.
While the OCGTs are still used “strategically” to meet demand during peak times, it is no longer being used as base load. As a result, the utility has reduced its diesel bill by approximately R6.2 billion compared to the same period of April to June 2023.
This, Marokane said, would be a “strong driver in a possible return to profit in FY25”.

The group got another boost from the commercial operation of Kusile Unit 5 this past month, which is now contributing an additional 800MW to the grid.
For the rest of the year, it anticipates Kusile unit 6 also coming online (adding another 800MW), and unit 2 of the Koeberg nuclear power stations returning after its maintenance programme to add another 930MW.
“This will significantly improve the EAF by the end of March 2025,” it said.
Administrative progress
Even as Eskom makes progress improving its operations, on the administrative side of the business strides are also being made.
This week, the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA) officially commenced trading, marking a significant step in the unbundling of Eskom as part of the national power utility’s turnaround process.
The milestone marks the NTCSA’s establishment as a separate, distinct, and wholly-owned subsidiary of Eskom Holdings.
As part of the unbundling, the NTCSA will own and operate the country’s national transmission system, the System Operator, the grid strengthening function, energy market services and the International Trader.
In terms of current legislation, NTCSA will play the role of the Transmission System Operator and buyer, Eskom said.
It will also assume additional roles once the Electricity Regulation Amendment (ERA) Bill is passed into law.
The NTCSA will trade with Eskom Generation and Independent Power Producers (IPPs) using the current industry framework.
Eskom is still in the process of spinning off its distribution division, while the generation division will continue to operate as Eskom.