One number that Eskom keeps missing
Eskom’s latest financial results revealed that its energy availability factor (EAF) declined and that it failed to meet its target.
Eskom’s energy availability factor (EAF), the percentage of time the power station was available for use when needed, shows where the problem lies.
The energy availability factor is a key indicator of a power utility’s reliability and operational efficiency.
Eskom stated that if its EAF improved to around 70%, load-shedding would be a thing of the past, and South Africa would achieve electricity security.
With this critical number in mind, Eskom set targets for an energy availability factor of 60% by March 2023, 65% by March 2024, and 70% by March 2025.
Eskom missed these targets by a country mile. By May 2025, Eskom’s year-to-date EAF was 56.43%, well below its 70% target.
Eskom’s results for the six months ended 30 September 2025 showed that its EAF for the period was 62.41%, down from 62.94% a year earlier.
The power utility confirmed that it did not meet the half-year shareholder compact target of 65%.
“The slight year-on-year decrease in EAF is due to an increase in both planned maintenance (PCLF) to 11.29%,” it said.
Eskom added that its unplanned capacity loss factor (UCLF) for the period was 25.80%, slightly higher than last year’s 25.62%.
Simply put, Eskom’s power plants did not show any improvement in reliability and continue to break down regularly.
Its coal-fired stations recorded an average energy utilisation factor (EUF) of 85.96% for the period, down from 89.71% last year.
Eskom added that it aspires to achieve a 66% energy availability factor by the end of the current financial year.
It is worth noting that this is well below the Eskom board’s initial 70% EAF target by March 2025.
Eskom is burning more diesel to keep the lights on
Eskom continues to burn billions in diesel to keep the lights on during peak times, as it cannot always meet demand.
It explained that its primary energy costs declined by 1% to R78.4 billion, with lower spending on international purchases and independent power producers (IPPs).
However, this was offset by higher coal usage costs due to inflationary contractual increases and more extensive use of open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs).
The increased use of OCGTs was intended to support the power system, which was constrained by increased planned maintenance and higher unavailability of generation plants.
Spend on Eskom-owned and IPP OCGTs combined increased by 6% to R6.5 billion to produce 1TWh. This was up from R6.1 billion and 0.9TWh year-on-year.
This includes fuel costs, storage and demurrage charges, as well as maintenance costs in the case of IPP OCGTs.
However, it excludes the impact of fuel levy rebates for the sake of comparability. A R1 billion in fuel levy rebates has been recorded for the period.
Eskom added that despite the stabilisation of the power system, local load reduction measures remain necessary in certain areas during periods of peak demand.
Eskom explained that this is necessary to ensure public safety and to protect its distribution network against equipment failure caused by illegal connections.
“We are taking active steps to eliminate load reduction by March 2027 through the deployment of smart meters,” it said.
The mart meters will enable advanced online monitoring and management of demand at the customer level.
“This will be coupled with the rollout of distributed energy resources such as microgrids to bolster supply in remote and high-demand areas,” it said.
These initiatives will benefit approximately 1.69 million customers in Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal.
Eskom EAF from 2021 to 2025
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