Eskom Cuts Fuel Costs by 80 Per Cent, Power Supply Stays Stable

South Africa’s power utility Eskom reduced its diesel spending by 80.49 percent between 1 April and 1 October 2026 as power supply remained stable across the country.

The company spent R1.16 billion on diesel during this six-month period. This represents a huge drop from the R5.95 billion spent in the same period last year. The reduced diesel use saved Eskom R4.79 billion.

Eskom managed to cut this cost because its main power stations worked better, reduced unplanned breakdowns, and brought back old power capacity into the grid.

Power supply hits 504 days without blackouts

South Africa reached 504 consecutive days without rolling power cuts, known locally as load shedding, on Friday. The nation has not seen planned power cuts since 16 May 2025.

Eskom recorded a year-to-date Energy Availability Factor (EAF) of 68.11 percent. EAF measures the percentage of power plant capacity that is ready to supply electricity to the country.

Compared to three years ago, Eskom improved its EAF by 12.76 percentage points. The utility also restored 6,492 megawatts of generation capacity to the grid over the last three years.

During the past year alone, plant breakdowns fell by 6.69 percent. The power company also brought 2,943 megawatts of power capacity back into active service.

Better plant output also reduced Eskom's use of emergency generators. The Open Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGT) load factor, which measures how often emergency gas units run, fell sharply from 6.72 percent to 1.02 percent year-on-year.

Electricity demand rose by about 1,000 megawatts last week because cloudy weather reduced power output from home solar panels. Eskom said its main generators handled the extra load without issue, showing how power plants and private solar systems support each other.

"This milestone demonstrates the sustained progress being made in restoring reliability, strengthening energy security and supporting South Africa's economic growth and development," Eskom stated.

Plan to stop local power cut measures on track

Eskom is also working to stop local electricity rationing, known as load reduction, by March 2027 through its Load Reduction Eradication Programme.

Load reduction is different from load shedding.

Eskom uses load reduction as a short-term safety action to protect power equipment in areas where illegal connections and meter tampering cause network overload.

Seven out of South Africa's nine provinces currently do not have load reduction. The utility has restored normal power supply to about 1.5 million customers.

The total number of customers affected by load reduction dropped from 1.69 million to 202,590. This figure represents 2.8 percent of Eskom's whole customer base.

The remaining affected customers live in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces. However, Eskom has already restored normal power to more than 60 percent of affected customers in those two areas.

"Eskom continues to implement load reduction as a temporary, targeted measure in high-risk areas to protect both communities and the electricity network," the company explained.