525 days without load shedding, and the lights are staying on

South Africa has gone 525 consecutive days without load shedding since 16 May 2025, Eskom said in a statement on its generation recovery, with the utility’s Energy Availability Factor for the financial year-to-date at 68.1%.

The figure represents roughly 6 424MW of additional available generation capacity compared with three years ago. Unplanned outages have improved by 6.89% year-on-year, about 3 115MW of generation capacity returned to service against the same period last year, and average unplanned outages have fallen by 7 064MW over three years, from 16 172MW to 9 108MW.

Eskom attributes the improvement to its Generation Recovery Plan. The utility also reports 4 961MW of available generation capacity above current demand requirements, and says the recovery has meant less reliance on diesel-fired open-cycle gas turbines, with a R4.81 billion year-on-year reduction in diesel expenditure.

“The sustained improvement in generation availability, declining unplanned outages, lower diesel expenditure and substantial reduction in load reduction demonstrate continued progress in strengthening Eskom’s operational performance,” the statement read.

The relief is uneven across the country. Load reduction, the practice of cutting supply to specific high-loss areas rather than nationwide, has been lifted entirely in seven provinces. The remaining impact is confined to selected areas of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, where about 80% of previously affected customers have been restored.

The number of customers affected by load reduction has fallen from approximately 1.69 million to 193 556, an 88.6% reduction, and some 1.5 million customers have been returned to normal supply. The remaining affected customers represent about 2.7% of Eskom’s customer base.

Eskom is working to a March 2027 target to eradicate load reduction. On the smart meter rollout on load reduction feeders, 524 375 meters have been installed, about 91% of the 577 347 target for high-priority areas, with roughly 83% of installations concentrated in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal. The rollout is focused on high-loss areas affected by illegal connections, infrastructure overloading and electricity theft.

Progress in the remaining communities is being held back. Eskom says that despite engagement with ward councillors, public meetings and media platforms, resistance in some areas continues, including safety incidents, intimidation and work stoppages, with more than 122 000 planned installations affected to date.

“The focus is now on sustaining these gains and progressively shifting from recovery to reliability and sustainability, while supporting a reliable electricity supply for South Africa’s economic growth and industrialisation,” the utility said.

This report is drawn from Eskom’s statement as published by SAnews (South African Government News Agency) at https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/eskom-continues-sustained-generation-recovery. The figures are the utility’s own and have not been independently verified.