Eskom achieved what many people thought was impossible
Eskom’s Generation Recovery Plan has produced excellent results, including four months without load shedding, and the month-to-date EAF surpassing the 70% target.
On Friday, 26 September 2025, Eskom said it continues to deliver a stable and consistent electricity supply.
It shared the good news that Unit 1 at Koeberg Nuclear Power Station has begun its start-up sequence and is currently undergoing hot commissioning.
“Once back online, it will deliver 930MW to the national grid, bolstering the country’s electricity supply,” Eskom said.
Further good news is that the ongoing technical improvements under Eskom’s Generation Recovery Plan have enhanced the power utility’s performance.
Between 19 and 25 September 2025, Eskom recorded an average of 9,514MW in unplanned outages, a significant improvement compared to 12,660MW during the same period last year.
This represents a year-on-year reduction of 3,146MW in breakdowns, nearly equivalent to the entire output capacity of Duvha Power Station.
This upward trend demonstrates increasing stability and improved reliability across Eskom’s generation fleet.
To further strengthen grid stability, Eskom is planning to return a total of 2,500MW of generation capacity to service ahead of the evening peak on Monday, 29 September 2025.
The technical improvements have ensured that electricity demand is met for over 97% of the time in the current financial year.
“The country has gone 133 consecutive days without load shedding, with only 26 hours recorded between 1 April and 25 September 2025,” Eskom said.
The improved performance helped Eskom’s diesel budget to remain well below the allocated budget from 1 April to 25 September 2025.
This reflects the reduced reliance on the diesel fleet and a much greater reliance on the rest of the generation fleet.
Eskom’s energy availability factor (EAF) fluctuated between 65% and 71%, with the month-to-date average holding above 70% at 71.15%. The last time it trended this high was in 2021.
Energy analyst Chris Yelland said Eskom’s EAF has risen to levels significantly higher than those of the last four years and 12 percentage points higher than in the same period in 2024.
“Planned maintenance outages are three percentage points lower and unplanned outages are eight percentage points lower than for the same time last year,” he said.
“This is a very significant and dramatic operational performance improvement indeed. Well done to the Eskom Generation team led by Bheki Nxumalo.”
Eskom performance improvement
The charts below, courtesy of Chris Yelland, give Eskom’s week-on-week energy availability factor, planned maintenance outage (PCLF) and unplanned outage (UCLF) trends.
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