Sunday, 02 February 2025: After a temporary setback that necessitated the implementation of loadshedding over the weekend, Eskom has suspended loadshedding as of 06:00 today due to the recovery of sufficient emergency reserves. This follows more than 10 months of uninterrupted electricity supply, reflecting the effectiveness of the Generation Recovery Plan.
This past Friday, Eskom announced that it had encountered several breakdowns over the past week, necessitating extended repair times and the full use of its emergency reserves. As promised, Eskom has since replenished these reserves, with dam levels fully replenished and open-cycle gas turbines adequately recovered, ensuring a stable supply. Additionally, five coal-fired generation units have been successfully repaired and returned to service, adding a total of 2 930MW to the grid. An additional 2 391MW is expected to be restored today, Sunday, February 02, 2025.
With loadshedding largely behind us, the structural improvements and efficiency gains we have made in our coal-fired generation fleet are secure, along with the over R16.30 billion saved in diesel costs from April 1, 2024, to January 30, 2025.
Eskom’s Summer Outlook, published on August 26, 2024, remains unchanged.
Currently, unplanned outages stand at 13 279MW and continue to trend downward, averaging 12 087MW. Planned maintenance outages account for 6 298MW and are aligned with our summer maintenance strategy to further improve reliability in preparation for winter 2025 and beyond.
With available capacity of 27 957MW and the evening’s peak demand forecast of 24 456MW, Eskom will meet electricity demand.
Isolated network overloading
Eskom continues to face network overloading issues in certain local areas due to illegal connections, vandalism, meter tampering, unauthorised network operations, theft of network equipment, and purchasing electricity from unlicensed vendors. To prevent public safety hazards and the risk of network overloading and extended unplanned power outages, Eskom strongly urges customers to avoid illegal connections, as this can negatively impact the entire local community. It is also essential for customers to ensure they purchase electricity only from authorised vendors.
Eskom urges the public to help protect the integrity of the power network by reporting any illegal activities to the Eskom Crime Line at 0800 112 722 or via WhatsApp at 081 333 3323.
We will provide an update on Friday, 7 February 2025, or promptly communicate any significant changes as soon as they occur.
ENDS
