Friday, 15 August 2025: The power system continues to operate reliably, enabling Eskom to meet winter electricity demand effectively. When system constraints do arise, they are managed through the targeted use of emergency reserves during morning and evening peak periods.
Electricity demand has been met over 97% of the time during the winter season and financial year to date. Since 15 May 2025, South Africa has experienced no loadshedding, with only 26 hours recorded between 1 April and 14 August 2025.
With just over two weeks remaining in Eskom’s Winter Outlook period, the power system remains well-positioned to maintain stability and reliably meet demand.
The open-cycle gas turbine (OCGT) load factor was 1.21% this week, down from the 5.99% recorded during the previous week (1 to 7 August 2025).
From 1 April to 14 August 2025, diesel spend remains within the allocated budget.
As of today, unplanned outages stand at 10 538MW, highlighting progress in plant performance as a result of the ongoing implementation of the Generation Recovery Plan, aimed at improving performance and ensuring long-term energy security.
The available generation capacity currently stands at 30 480MW, while tonight’s electricity demand is expected to reach 27 969MW. The current capacity is sufficient to meet both today’s demand and anticipated requirements over the weekend.
During the week of 8 and 14 August 2025, planned maintenance averaged 5 193MW. During this period, the Energy Availability Factor (EAF) ranged from 61% to 66%, with a month-to-date average of 64.65%, highlighting the fleet’s growing stability and improved reliability. These figures exclude Kusile Unit 6, which has been supplying 720MW into the national grid since 23 March 2025, though it is not yet in commercial operation. The unit is expected to reach commercial operation by September 2025
To further strengthen grid stability, Eskom is planning to return a total of 4 151MW of generation capacity to service ahead of the evening peak on Monday, 18 August 2025, and throughout the coming week.
Between 1 April and 14 August 2025, the Unplanned Capability Loss Factor (UCLF), which reflects the percentage of generation capacity lost due to unplanned outages, further decreased to 28.14%. This represents a week-on-week improvement of approximately 0.21%, although it remains about 2.2% higher than the 25.98% recorded during the same period last year.
The Winter Outlook, published on 5 May 2025, covering the period ending 31 August 2025, remains valid. It indicates that loadshedding will not be necessary if unplanned outages stay below 13 000MW. If outages rise to 15 000MW, loadshedding would be limited to a maximum of 21 days out of 153 days and restricted to Stage 2.
Eskom is scheduled to announce its Summer Outlook in September 2025.
Key Performance Highlights:
- Average unplanned outages over the past week reached 11 710MW, slightly higher than the 11 635MW recorded during the same period last year and up from the previous week. Despite the slight year-on-year increase of 75MW, the figure remains 1 290MW below the base case projection of 13 000MW
- For the financial year-to-date, planned maintenance has averaged at 5 207MW, representing 11.09% of total generation capacity. This reflects a similar performance from the previous week, but a 0.8% increase compared to the same period last year.
- The year-to-date EAF further increased to 60.3%, excluding the 720MW contribution from Kusile Unit 6. This figure is below the 63.15% recorded during the same period last year, mainly due to a 2.2% YTD increase in unplanned maintenance compared to the previous year.
- Between 1 April and 14 August 2025, which falls within the winter period, Eskom spent R5.887 billion on fuel for OCGT plants, generating 995.48GWh of electricity. This output is still higher than the 523.83GWh generated during the same timeframe last year.
- The year-to-date load factor for OCGTs has decreased to 8.93%, reflecting a 0.42% decrease compared to the previous week. This figure remains higher than the 4.70% recorded during the same period last year.
Protect transformers this winter – avoid illegal connections and prevent power failures
With loadshedding suspended and electricity demand rising during the winter period, Eskom urges all customers to act responsibly and help safeguard the power system. Illegal connections and meter bypassing not only constitute theft but also place immense strain on the network, often leading to transformer overloads, equipment damage, and in severe cases, explosions and extended outages.
To protect critical infrastructure, Eskom is compelled to implement load reduction by switching off power during peak hours in high-risk, isolated areas to prevent potential damage. To help maintain a stable and uninterrupted electricity supply, customers are strongly urged to avoid bypassing meters and refrain from illegal connections. Electricity should be purchased only through Eskom-accredited vendors, and users are encouraged to regularise their electricity usage. These steps are essential to ensuring safe, reliable, and fair access to electricity for all.
Eligible households are encouraged to register for free basic electricity with their local municipalities.
Any illegal activity impacting Eskom’s infrastructure should be reported to the Eskom Crime Line at 0800 112 722 or via WhatsApp on 081 333 3323.
Eskom encourages all South Africans to use electricity efficiently throughout the winter season. To help manage household electricity consumption, Eskom customers are encouraged to use the Eskom Residential Calculator, a convenient tool for tracking and optimising energy usage: https://www.eskom.co.za/distribution/residential-calculator/.
Eskom will provide an update on Friday, 22 August 2025, or promptly communicate any significant changes as soon as they occur.
ENDS
