KEY POINTS
- Eskom reliability improves with 119 days without load shedding.
- Grid stability reinforced by plant upgrades and Kusile Unit 6.
- Illegal connections remain the biggest challenge to progress.
South Africa’s embattled power utility Eskom has extended its streak of uninterrupted electricity supply, reaching 119 days without load shedding. The state-owned company said the achievement reflects structural progress in plant performance, with unplanned breakdowns holding steady below the critical 10,000-megawatt threshold.
Eskom, which has long struggled with rolling blackouts, said its Generation Recovery Plan continues to drive improvements. In its weekend update, the utility reported that unplanned outages stood at 7,394 megawatts, while diesel-powered open-cycle gas turbines maintained a load factor of just 0.001 percent for the second consecutive week.
Eskom reliability strengthens power system
Since April, Eskom has managed to meet more than 97 percent of electricity demand, an achievement underscored by just 26 hours of outages between April 1 and September 11. Plant maintenance also rose during early September, averaging 4,624 megawatts as summer operations began.
The Energy Availability Factor, a measure of grid reliability, held between 69 percent and 73 percent through the week, with the monthly average above 70 percent. The company credited this upward trend to greater stability across its generation fleet. It added that Kusile Unit 6, already contributing 720 megawatts to the grid since March, is expected to be fully commercial this month.
To reinforce grid stability, Eskom said it plans to return nearly 2,835 megawatts of additional capacity this week. The utility also noted a decline in the Unplanned Capability Loss Factor to 26.53 percent, an improvement from earlier this year though still higher than 2024 levels.
Eskom reliability challenged by illegal connections
Despite progress, Eskom warned that electricity theft remains a major threat to reliability. Illegal connections and meter bypassing continue to strain infrastructure, causing equipment failures and transformer explosions in high-demand areas such as Gauteng, Limpopo, and Mpumalanga.
The company said it aims to eliminate load reduction entirely within two years by tackling 640,000 illegal connections, expanding smart meters, and rolling out free basic electricity registrations. Efforts already produced a 3 percent reduction in load between April and June, with Limpopo recording a 13 percent gain.
According to BizCommunity, Eskom reiterated that electricity should only be purchased through accredited vendors and urged the public to report theft to its crime line. “Reliability and fairness in supply depend on shared responsibility,” the utility said.
