Energy3.02.2025

Say goodbye to load-shedding in South Africa

Eskom board chair Mteto Nyati is confident that load-shedding will be history by the end of March 2025, when the power utility has returned several large generating units to service.

This comes after the power utility was forced to implement Stage 3 load-shedding from 17:00 on Friday, 31 January 2025, until 06:00 on Sunday, 2 February.

Speaking to eNCA, Nyati said he is confident that Eskom won’t have to implement load-shedding again from the end of March this year.

“We had this plan. This was a two-year plan which was adopted in March 2023. We have been implementing that plan,” he said.

“We are now like two or three months away from the end of that two years. End of March 2025, that’s when the plan should have been executed.”

“At the end of that plan is when we can come back, the Minister, myself, and the CEO, and communicate to South Africa that there’s not going to be load-shedding,” added Nyati.

He explained that some specific actions must be completed between now and the end of March.

“Kusile Unit 6. It has to be synchronised. Already, it is very much in line,” said Nyati. “Medupi Unit 4. That has been off. It is coming back.”

He said Eskom’s work to return these units, combined with the maintenance it has already completed this summer, will allow for a load-shedding-free winter.

The sudden load-shedding on Friday ended an over 300-day break from rotational power cuts in South Africa. Eskom suspended load-shedding again at 06:00 on Sunday, 2 February 2025.

The utility described the events leading up to Friday’s implementation of load-shedding as “the perfect storm.”

Several unit breakdowns forced it to deplete its emergency reserves, and power cuts were required to allow it to replenish them.

These included breakdowns at two of its best-performing coal-fired power stations — Lethabo and Mathimba. Eskom also experienced delays in bringing out-of-service units back online.

Bheki Nxumalo, Eskom Group executive responsible for generation

Eskom Group executive for generation Bheki Nxumalo said boiler tube failures were the most common issue causing generating units to go offline.

Eskom CEO Dan Marokane said load-shedding was required over the weekend to restore water levels at Eskom’s pumped storage schemes and diesel stocks for its open-cycle gas turbines.

Eskom executives and the Minister of Electricity and Energy, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, are adamant that implementing load-shedding was a temporary setback.

Ramokgopa also said the utility had stuck to its guns on its intensified planned maintenance schedule to improve overall fleet reliability, emphasising the “short-term pain for long-term gain” approach.

“We are not going to compromise on planned maintenance,” he added.

The Minister said the trendlines in the energy availability factor (EAF) and unplanned breakdowns still show an overall improvement in Eskom’s performance.

Energy expert Chris Yelland recently commented on Eskom’s improved performance, describing the long-standing suspension of rotational power cuts and general turnaround efforts as a “great performance“.

It has markedly improved its EAF over the past two years while also reducing its unplanned capacity loss factor (UCLF) compared to recent years.

“From April 2024, the week-on-week EAF trend graph for the 2024 calendar year is consistently higher than that for 2023, with planned maintenance (PCLF) consistently higher for the full 2024 calendar year and UCLF consistently lower for the full 2024 calendar year,” said Yelland.

These improvements enabled Eskom to suspend load-shedding on 26 March 2024 and keep it suspended for 311 days.

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