While planned maintenance continues, Eskom has assured the public of a stable power system.
“In the past 24 hours a total of 3 320MW of generation capacity has been restored, ensuring a stable power system with enough supply to meet the long weekend’s demand. Emergency reserves are adequate and will be strategically utilised when necessary to manage peak demand,” Eskom said on Friday. In a statement, the power utility said that planned maintenance continues to ensure system readiness for increased winter demand, to meet regulatory requirements and to ensure environmental compliance. “Year-to-date (1 to 24 April 2025), 7 164MW of the generation capacity has been under planned maintenance, on average. This equates to 15.32% of generation capacity, marking a 3.8% increase compared to the same period last year. The Unplanned Capacity Loss Factor (UCLF), or unplanned outages, for the financial year-to-date (1 to 24 April 2025), stands at 27.82%, improving by ~2.1% from 29.89% achieved in the same period last year,” it said.
“A total of 4 058MW will be returned to service before the evening peak on Tuesday, 29 April 2025, to further stabilise the grid,” it said.
This as the power utility implemented Stage 2 load shedding on Thursday afternoon. “While load shedding remains suspended and electricity demand continues to rise, Eskom urges the public to help prevent transformer overloads and related equipment failures, which can result in explosions and prolonged outages.
“This can be achieved by avoiding illegal connections, purchasing electricity only from Eskom-accredited vendors and ensuring that customers take responsibility for regularising their electricity usage.”
It further added that from 18 to 24 April 2025, average unplanned outages reduced to 13 430MW, showing an improvement of 472MW compared to the same period last year. Year-to-date (1 to 24 April 2025) average unplanned outages stand at 13 243MW. Year-to-date (1 to 24 April 2025), Eskom spent approximately R2.19 billion on fuel for the Open-Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGTs) fleet, generating 372.05GWh. This is higher than the 149.9GWh generated during the same period last year.
“This is expected to decrease as maintenance activities begin to slow down in the winter period,” it said.
Eskom further encouraged eligible households to register for free basic electricity with their local municipalities while adding that any illegal activity impacting its infrastructure should be reported to the Eskom Crime Line at 0800 112 722 or via WhatsApp on 081 333 3323. “With the winter period setting in, Eskom requests the public to continue to use electricity efficiently.” Eskom is scheduled to announce its winter outlook on 5 May 2025. Originally posted on SAnews.gov.za
