Tuesday, 21 January 2025: Eskom delivered 300 consecutive days without loadshedding at midnight, a milestone last reached in June 2018.
This milestone is the outcome of Eskom implementing the Generation Recovery Plan since March 2023, which has delivered sustained and ongoing structural improvement in the Generation fleet.
“Credit goes to all our 40 000 dedicated and skilled Eskom employees who are committed to serving South Africa. Our sights are now firmly focussed on delivering one year without loadshedding at midnight on 26 March 2025,” stated Bheki Nxumalo, Group Executive for Generation.
“These 300 days without loadshedding have been characterised by a significant reduction in unplanned outages, which have long been one of the biggest challenges, a notable improvement in the energy availability factor of approximately 7%, and savings in diesel expenditure of R16.42 billion,” concluded Nxumalo.
“This concrete and ongoing delivery of the action plan has boosted business confidence with credit rating agencies and banks stating Eskom’s performance recovery is a key contributor towards positive sentiments as far as South Africa’s GDP growth prospects of up to 2% are concerned,” said Dan Marokane, Group Chief Executive of Eskom.
“Public sentiment is shifting, business leaders who once had to invest precious capex in self-generation have enquired whether they should revert to investing in Eskom for their power needs. The savings we are making in diesel spend are invested in the business to drive efficiencies further and place Eskom on a path to profitability and long-term operational and financial sustainability,” concluded Marokane.
Eskom expresses gratitude to all stakeholders, including the Minister of Electricity and Energy, the Eskom Board, the government and the National Energy Crisis Committee (NECOM), for the collaborative effort in addressing the country’s electricity challenges.
Eskom will continue to focus on implementing generation recovery, strengthening governance, and tackling crime and corruption while future-proofing the organisation to enable energy security, growth, and long-term sustainability to the benefit of South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.
ENDS
