The Energy Availability Factor reached 67.78% between April 1 and September 10, up from 61.71% during the same period last year. Unplanned outages fell from 26.61% to 19.43%.
Improved plant reliability returned about 3 500MW to the grid compared with the previous year. Average unplanned outages have declined by 7 026MW over three years, from 16 212MW to 9 186MW.
Diesel expenditure fell 80.94%, from about $368 million to $70 million. The conversions use an exchange rate of approximately $1 to R16.10.
Generation from open-cycle gas turbines reached 146.81GWh, about 85.33% lower than a year earlier. The load factor for the diesel-powered plants dropped from 7.56% to 1.11%, remaining below the 3% annual target.
Eskom said stronger generation performance had also supported environmental improvements at coal-fired power stations.
Particulate matter emissions declined about 67%, from 0.96kg/MWh sent out at the end of March to 0.32kg/MWh. Performance improved beyond Eskom’s target of 0.35kg/MWh.
Twelve of Eskom’s 14 coal-fired power stations are meeting station-specific particulate matter targets, with interventions continuing at the remaining facilities.
The utility has recorded 483 consecutive days without load-shedding since May 16, 2025, supported by lower breakdowns, additional generation capacity and reduced dependence on emergency resources.
Planned maintenance averaged 5 965MW, or 12.6% of generation capacity, compared with 5 219MW and 11.18% during the corresponding period last year.
Eskom also reported progress in reducing load shedding, which is used in areas affected by illegal connections, meter tampering and overloaded infrastructure.
About 1.2 million customers have returned to normal supply, while 6.5% of Eskom customers remain affected. Seven provinces are free from load reduction.
The programme has removed 571 of the targeted 971 feeders from load reduction. Eskom has also installed 513 022 smart meters, reaching 89% of the target for high-priority areas.
However, resistance, intimidation and work stoppages have delayed more than 122 000 planned installations.
Eskom aims to eliminate load reduction nationally by March 2027.
–ChannelAfrica–
