Eskom is optimistic that South Africa will enjoy a “load shedding free summer,” provided that unplanned outages at power stations remain below 13,000 MW. This announcement was made by Eskom’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Dan Marokane, during a media briefing on the utility’s current status and its summer strategy.
Prospects for a Load Shedding Free Summer:
Marokane stated, “If we maintain unplanned losses below 13,000 MW, we anticipate a summer without load shedding. In a worst-case scenario, if unplanned losses reach up to 15,500 MW, we might face Stage 2 load shedding at most.” He highlighted that over the past four months, unplanned losses have averaged around 12,000 MW. Eskom’s power station managers and teams are focused on controlling these losses, aiming for a stable summer if they stay under the 13,000 MW threshold.
Additionally, Marokane mentioned that new generation capacity is expected to be added from power stations in the coming months. “The additional 2,500 MW will significantly bolster our reserves. With this increase and the consistent performance we are witnessing, we anticipate discussing by March when we can declare that chronic load shedding is behind us,” he added.
Generation Recovery Plan:
Marokane noted the substantial improvement in generation performance while emphasizing the need for sustained efforts across the organization. “There has been a structural shift in the performance of our coal fleet, evidenced by reduced unplanned outages and 152 days without load shedding. Compared to last December, this signals a fundamental change, driven by our generation recovery plan,” he explained.
He stressed that the improved performance exceeds expectations and is supported by interventions from the recovery plan. “This performance must be institutionalized to ensure our business operations do not revert to previous conditions,” Marokane concluded.
