Eskom's Energy Availability Hits Six-Year High of 67.87%

Eskom, South Africa's state-owned power utility, has raised its Energy Availability Factor to 67.87% for the current financial year to date, the highest level since 2020, while cutting diesel spending by 82.38% and saving R4.89 billion compared with the same period last year.

The Energy Availability Factor, a measure of how much of a power utility's total generation capacity is actually available to produce electricity, rose 6.97 percentage points from 60.9% recorded in the same period last year, the utility said. Unplanned outages fell from 34.5% to 19.58% over the same period, returning 6,873MW of generation capacity to the grid compared with three years ago, equivalent to the combined output of the Medupi and Kriel power stations.

The improved performance has allowed Eskom to sharply cut its use of diesel-fired Open-Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGTs), which are typically run at short notice to cover shortfalls in generation. Diesel expenditure for the year to date, from April 1 to August 27, 2026, fell to R1,044.51 million from R5.93 billion a year earlier, as OCGT usage dropped from 8.27% to 1.10% of total generation. From March 2023 to March 2026, diesel expenditure has fallen by a cumulative R23 billion, according to Eskom.

South Africa has now gone 469 consecutive days without loadshedding since May 16, 2025. Eskom's Winter Outlook, published in April 2026 for the period to the end of August, continues to project no loadshedding for the season. The utility said it is holding 5,728MW in cold reserve as additional assurance of supply.

Load reduction programme nears completion in some provinces

Separately, Eskom is working to eliminate load reduction, a targeted measure used to limit electricity supply in areas with high illegal connections or overloaded infrastructure, distinct from the nationwide loadshedding used when total generation falls short of demand. Seven of South Africa's nine provinces are now free of load reduction, and about 1.2 million customers, roughly 71% of the 1.69 million households targeted under the programme, have been restored to normal supply.

The programme, which Eskom aims to complete by 2027, covers 971 feeders nationally and relies on installing smart meters, integrating small-scale renewable and battery systems known as Distributed Energy Resources, and expanding Free Basic Electricity support for qualifying households. So far, 509,515 smart meters have been installed against a target of 577,347, though Eskom said resistance in some communities, including intimidation and work stoppages, has delayed more than 122,000 planned installations.

Eskom revealed that 546,576 customers are now registered for Free Basic Electricity, up 13% from a baseline of 485,000, though this remains about 26% of the 2.1 million customers who qualify. The utility is aiming to remove the remaining two provinces, Gauteng and the Eastern Cape region still under partial restrictions, from load reduction by October 2026.