Eskom explains why load-shedding is back

Eskom’s unplanned capacity loss factor rose from 15,000MW earlier in the week to 18,000MW on Friday, forcing the utility to implement Stage 3 load-shedding over the weekend.

This was announced during a press briefing by Eskom CEO Dan Marokane on Saturday afternoon.

The unplanned capacity loss factor refers to the ratio of the unavailable capacity of units experiencing outages to the total net installed capacity of all units over the same period.

Marokane noted that this was mainly due to the maintenance of generation units not returning on the planned dates, referred to as slippage.

However, he said that Eskom could return 3,200MW of capacity to the national grid by Saturday morning, including the two units from Kusile Power Station.

“We are now sitting at about 4,500MW of unplanned losses and expect another 750MW of capacity to return on Sunday and the final 2,800MW on Monday morning,” Marokane said.

This will include the return of Koeberg Unit 2. Head of generation Bheki Nxumalo said that Koeberg’s issues have nothing to do with nuclear safety.

“I would like to convey my sincere apologies that the country has to experience the gross inconvenience of load-shedding,” Minister of Energy and Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said during the briefing.

“As the president mentioned during the State SONA, it has huge implications for economic growth and business development.”

“Come Monday, we should be in the position to get out of the current bout of Load-shedding.”

The Minister said that the capacity loss factor oscillating between 8,500MW and 11,000MW indicates that something has gone wrong and needs to be dealt with.

He would work through Eskom’s leadership to visit power stations to get an understanding of what has caused the setback.

Ramokgopa apologised for the power cuts, reiterating that South Africans should never accept load-shedding as a normal occurrence.

He added that Eskom will release its winter outlook within two to three weeks.

Eskom announced that load-shedding would return on Friday, 7 March 2025, from 14:00 until 05:00 on Monday, 10 March 2025.

This came after Koeberg Unit 2 was taken offline again after being brought back on Wednesday, and two large units at the Kusile power station experienced “sub-optimal” operations due to adverse weather.

“The constrained capacity resulted in the increased reliance on emergency reserves during this week, which makes it necessary to focus on replenishing these critical resources during the weekend in preparation for the business week.”

Eskom added that higher levels of planned maintenance outages, aimed at winter preparation and meeting regulatory and environmental licensing requirements, were also underway.

Nxumalo said that the power utility was in a “challenging time” in its two-year generation recovery plan, with its full force of skilled engineering resources deployed and focused.

“We again apologise to the nation for this temporary setback,” Nxumalo said.

“We have had some delays in returning units that previously tripped back to the grid, as well as to the return of three units that have been on longer-term outage that will bring back 2,500MW to the grid, which will happen over the coming weeks,” Nxumalo said.

“We reiterate our commitment to ensuring that South Africa is in no way returning to the levels of load-shedding that we experienced in 2023.”