Power system continues to be stable with loadshedding suspended and R17.57 billion in year-on-year diesel savings delivered.
Friday, 14 February 2025: Eskom confirms that loadshedding remains suspended. The system is stable and has sufficient emergency reserves.
From 1 April 2024 to 14 February 2025, loadshedding was suspended for 317 days (7 643 hours), compared to 32 days (2 043 hours) in the same period last year. Electricity supply was available 99% of the time, compared to just 10% last year.
Year-to-date diesel savings continue and have reached R17.57 billion, which is 61.2% less than the R28.70 billion spent last year and an improvement of R1.03 billion from the previous week.
A total of 4 261MW will be returned to service before the evening peak on Monday, 17 February 2025, to further stabilise the grid.
Eskom’s Summer Outlook from 1 September 2024 to 31 March 2025, published on August 26, 2024, remains unchanged.
Key Performance Highlights:
- Over the past week (7 February to 13 February 2025), average unplanned outages reduced to 10 780MW, showing a significant improvement of 4 919MW compared to the same period last year. Year-to-date, the average is 12 109MW, which is 891MW below the summer base case of 13 000MW.
- The Unplanned Capacity Loss Factor (UCLF) is at 25.34% for the financial year-to-date (1 April 2024 to 13 February 2025), improving from 32.57% in the corresponding period last year. This represents a ~7.2% improvement.
- The weekly EAF increased from 57.0% at the beginning of the financial year to 60.46% from 10 to 13 February 2025, while the year-to-date EAF is at 61.53%, a significant improvement of ~6.9% compared to the same period last year (54.68%).
- The ongoing planned maintenance at 7 755MW aligns with our summer maintenance strategy, which aims to further improve reliability in preparation for winter 2025 and beyond.
- As of today, unplanned outages stand at 11 471MW, while available generation capacity is 28 355MW, sufficient to meet tonight’s forecasted peak demand of 24 445MW.
- Strategic use of peaking stations remains key to managing electricity demand during peak times, particularly during evening peaks (17:00 to 22:00).
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- Between 1 April 2024 and 13 February 2025, approximately R11.13 billion on fuel for the OCGT fleet was spent, which is below budget, generating 1 825.70GWh. This is significantly lower than the 4 539.18GWh generated during the same period last year.
- The OCGT load factor for 1 April 2024 to 13 February 2025 stabilised at 6.98%, compared to last year’s figure of 17.37%.
‘Save Your Transformers, Save Lives’ campaign
While loadshedding is currently suspended, Eskom appeals to the public to avoid illegal connections, to buy electricity only from Eskom-accredited vendors and help protect 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, 21 February 2025, or promptly communicate any significant changes as soon as they occur.
ENDS
