South Africa's power grid stability improves as Eskom enters the new year

South Africa has returned from the festive break with its most stable and predictable electricity supply in five years, according to Eskom, as gains from its Generation Recovery Plan continue to firm up.

The plan, launched in April 2023, has left the power system structurally stronger entering 2026, with an additional 4 400MW of capacity available compared with this time last year. Eskom says the improvement is evident in higher plant performance, fewer emergency interventions and tighter maintenance discipline.

Key performance indicators show marked progress. The Energy Availability Factor has climbed from 56.03% to 64.55%, while the generation fleet has met or exceeded the 70% benchmark on 55 days since 1 April 2025.

Planned maintenance peaked at 12.76% in the 2025 financial year following an intensive maintenance push and has since eased to 9.32%, moving closer to global best practice. Unplanned outages have fallen sharply, with the Unplanned Capacity Loss Factor dropping from 31.92% to 16.02%.

Improved reliability has also delivered financial relief. Eskom cut diesel spending by about R16 billion in the 2025 financial year as it reduced reliance on open-cycle gas turbines, typically used during supply emergencies. Diesel costs are continuing to decline in the current financial year.

Eskom Group chief executive Dan Marokane said the utility had shifted from crisis management to stability.

“The big picture is that Eskom has moved from a heavily constrained power system to an increasingly stable one that can reliably deliver baseload power,” Marokane said, describing the recovery as “short-term pain for long-term gain”.

He said the turnaround was underpinned by the Eskom Debt Relief Act, which provided R254 billion in debt relief and eased pressure on Eskom’s balance sheet, enabling critical investment in preventative and planned maintenance.

Marokane added that improved operational performance was beginning to restore investor confidence, citing South Africa’s first credit rating upgrade in two decades and a drop in the risk rating on Eskom’s 2033 bonds.

Eskom continues to publish real-time system data on its data portal and has issued detailed weekly power system updates every Friday since May 2024, a move it says is aimed at improving transparency.

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