Eskom says the sustained upward trend reflects progress in restoring the reliability of its generation fleet and strengthening the stability of the national grid.

According to Eskom, the generation fleet has reached or exceeded the 70 per cent EAF threshold on 72 occasions so far this financial year. The utility says these results demonstrate growing momentum behind the Generation Recovery Plan, which has focused on improving maintenance, reducing breakdowns and tightening operational discipline.

Between February 20 and 26 2026, unplanned outages averaged 8 520 megawatts, down sharply from 14 626 megawatts over the same week last year. This reduction of 6 106 megawatts represents a 41.8% improvement. The Unplanned Capacity Loss Factor for the week was 17.75%, down from 30.41% a year earlier.

Planned maintenance has also been carried out more efficiently. The Planned Capacity Loss Factor averaged 10.70%, compared with 15.0% the previous financial year. Eskom reports that 4 432 megawatts of capacity is currently in cold reserve due to excess supply.

The utility also recorded a steep decline in diesel expenditure. Over the past week, 12.11 gigawatt hours of electricity generated from diesel cost $4.52 million. Year to date, Eskom has spent $410 million less on diesel than during the same period the previous year, a 50.96% reduction. The limited diesel use is mainly due to obligations under take‑or‑pay contracts with independent power producers operating open‑cycle gas turbines.

SA has now gone 287 consecutive days without loadshedding, with only 26 hours of interruptions recorded in April and May 2025. Eskom says improved performance allows it to maintain a healthy reserve margin, with 3 483 megawatts set to be added ahead of the evening peak on Monday.

The utility’s Summer Outlook, released in September 2025, projected no loadshedding through to the end of March 2026 due to these sustained operational gains.

–ChannelAfrica–