Eskom has gone 500 consecutive days without load-shedding, marking its longest sustained period of uninterrupted power supply since the crisis intensified. The utility said its financial year-to-date Energy Availability Factor rose to 68.06 percent, its highest level in six years, as improved plant performance and lower unplanned outages strengthened grid reliability.

Generation gains deepen

Weekly availability also remained above 70 percent for a second consecutive week, reaching 70.44 percent between Sept. 18 and 24, compared with 68.58 percent a year earlier. Eskom said the improvement reflects the impact of its Generation Recovery Plan, which has helped return about 6,461 megawatts of generating capacity to the grid over three years.

Unplanned outages fell to an average 7,622 megawatts during the week, down 21 percent from 9,633 megawatts a year earlier. For the financial year through Sept. 24, the Unplanned Capacity Loss Factor improved to 19.09 percent, a 6.83 percent decline from the comparable period, while more than half of Eskom’s coal fleet operated above a 70 percent availability factor.

Diesel costs plunge

Eskom’s diesel spending fell by R4.78 billion ($291.4 million), or 80.56 percent, to R1.16 billion ($70.7 million) between April 1 and Sept. 24, from R5.94 billion ($362.1 million) a year earlier. Over the same period, open-cycle gas turbine generation dropped 84.92 percent to 151.14 gigawatt-hours, while the load factor declined to 1.05 percent from 6.97 percent.

The utility said lower diesel use reflects stronger fleet performance and reduced reliance on emergency generation. Compared with the financial year ended March 2023, annual diesel expenditure was R23 billion ($1.4 billion) lower in the year ended March 2026. Eskom also reported 6,571 megawatts of capacity in cold reserve, providing additional system headroom.

Load reduction narrows

Eskom is also targeting the elimination of load reduction by March 2027. Seven provinces are now free of the measure, while 1.45 million customers have been restored to normal supply. The number affected has fallen to 247,617, or 3.4 percent of Eskom’s customer base, with Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal accounting for the remaining affected customers.

The utility has installed 517,810 smart meters on load-reduction feeders and removed 578 feeders from the program, representing about 59 percent of its 971-feeder target. Eskom said illegal connections, electricity theft and infrastructure damage remain localized challenges, while resistance, safety incidents and work stoppages have delayed more than 122,000 planned smart-meter installations.