Portable power station price joy in South Africa

South African households with a budget of R10,000 for backup power can protect themselves from the expected return in load-shedding.

Energy analyst Chris Yelland recently analysed Eskom’s generating performance data and found concerning trends the power utility’s energy availability factor (EAF).

“EAF has been pretty flat for the year to date, averaging 58.85%, which is much lower than forecast in the Generation Recovery Plan,” he said.

“For the last two weeks, the energy availability factor has dropped below the EAF for the same period last year.”

“If this trend continues and the EAF does not significantly increase as demand increases with the onset of colder weather, we are likely to experience some load-shedding.”

Yelland stressed that the EAF should improve due to reduced planned maintenance.

In addition, the return of another 800MW of capacity through Medupi Unit 4 could tip the scales against the rotational power cuts.

The Centre for Risk Analysis (CRA) and the Minerals Council South Africa have also raised warnings.

The CRA advised businesses to prepare for the possibility of load-shedding this winter, citing a recent rise in unplanned outages as a major concern.

The Minerals Council South Africa pointed to a big increase in the use of emergency generation in the form of open-cycle gas turbines as another worrying development.

Even if Eskom successfully avoided load-shedding in the coming winter, an investment in backup power will make sense for many households.

Numerous South African municipalities are in a state of decay, and among the plethora of issues they are facing are ageing and fault-prone power distribution equipment, leading to frequent localised outages.

Eskom has also repeatedly threatened power cutoffs to major metros like the City of Johannesburg and the City of Tshwane due to outstanding bills.

Most recently, Yelland warned that a long-standing billing dispute between Johannesburg and Eskom has reignited, despite earlier urgent intervention by electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa.

It is not the only municipality in Eskom’s crosshairs. By mid-December 2024, municipalities across the country owed Eskom over R107 billion.

Power stations cheaper than ever

While many households have invested in fully integrated solar and backup power to fend off load-shedding, these systems remain expensive for a large number of people.

Portable power stations offer a more affordable and easily deployable backup power solution.

MyBroadband looked at prominent online retailers for the highest-capacity power stations under R10,000.

We were impressed with the many options with more than 1kWh of storage and 1kW outputs, which would have cost around double their current prices a few years ago.

The two best products were the Navasolar TI-3024 power trolley with 2,560Wh of storage and the QVWi S1600 power station with 1,536Wh.

These can provide up to five or three hours of backup with a continuous 500W power draw.

This should be enough to support continuous power to an Internet router and multiple lights with either a TV or desktop computer.

Depending on the power station model, you could also power high peak power devices like a microwave or kettle for a short period.

One thing consumers should be wary of is that several models on the market still feature lead-acid or gel batteries rather than lithium-ion batteries.

The table below compares the specifications and pricing of ten of the highest-capacity power stations under R10,000 in South Africa in April 2025.