South Africa’s utility Eskom delivers one full year of uninterrupted power supply

Eskom says its generation recovery plan has delivered steady improvements in plant performance and financial stability over the past three years, helping reduce power cuts and restore confidence in the electricity system.

What: Eskom has reported sustained recovery, having achieved 365 consecutive days without loadshedding.

Why: The company’s performance improvement was achieved through consistent execution of maintenance and improving the reliability of each unit across the system.

What next: Eskom says it will now increasingly focus on delivering cleaner sources of energy.

On May 16, South Africa’s state-owned power utility Eskom marked a full year without crippling power outages, or loadshedding, achieving a milestone not seen since September 2018, eight years earlier.

“This milestone marks a decisive turning point and a structural shift from a recovering grid to a stable, high-performing power system,” the utility said in a media statement. “While the legacy of loadshedding once constrained economic activity and strained South African households, 365 consecutive days of uninterrupted power supply represents more than operational progress, it is a restoration of national confidence.”

According to the statement, the sustained generation reliability has saved ZAR26.9bn ($1.64bn) in diesel costs over the past three years, while ensuring Eskom successfully met 100% of the nation’s electricity demand.

Eskom board chairman Mteto Nyaty praised the company’s employees for their deep technical and institutional capability built over decades of public investment. “This moment has been three years in the making since the inception of the generation recovery plan,” he said, adding that Eskom would now increasingly focus on delivering cleaner sources of energy.

“The Eskom board and I are proud of the leadership demonstrated by the Eskom executive team led by Dan Marokane and the perseverance and focus of Eskom employees following the state capture years,” Nyati concluded.

Eskom group chief executive Dan Marokane said that South Africa now had a stable electricity platform that would enable an orderly transformation of the industry, pointing out that no energy market liberalisation anywhere in the world had succeeded without a stable incumbent.

“The delivery of this milestone again demonstrates that Eskom’s true progress is rooted in the expertise of its 40,000 people, our Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and other partners,” Marokane said. “Government intervention through the Energy Action Plan has also been an important factor towards the progress we have made.”

The CEO noted that Eskom had the scale and human capital experience to partner with investors to help deliver South Africa’s ZAR2.23 trillion (about $136.3bn) Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) for investment in the energy sector.

Eskom’s group executive for generation Bheki Nxumalo said the milestone represented the hardest‑won progress in Eskom’s recent history, establishing a stable platform for continued performance improvement, achieved through consistent execution of maintenance and improving the reliability of each unit across the system. “We are ready to participate in a competitive power generation marketplace,” Nxumalo stated.

Generation recovery plan

Eskom says its generation recovery plan has delivered steady improvements in plant performance and financial stability over the past three years, helping reduce power cuts and restore confidence in the electricity system.

Since the start of the generation recovery plan in March 2023, Eskom’s Energy Availability Factor (EAF), a measure of how much electricity generation capacity is available, has increased from 54.56% to 65.16%. At the same time, unplanned outages, which reflect plant breakdowns, fell from 32.34% to 22.88%, indicating improved reliability across the fleet.

The utility has also sharply reduced its dependence on diesel-powered emergency generation. Diesel spending dropped from about ZAR33.3bn to ZAR6.4bn, a decline of around 81%, mainly due to better plant performance and tighter operational controls.

Eskom attributed the progress to a stronger maintenance programme and stricter implementation of its operational recovery strategy. The company said it increased planned maintenance, improved outage management and focused on reducing unit failures across its operations.

Furthermore, the more stable electricity supply has allowed Eskom to support struggling energy-intensive industries, particularly ferrochrome producers, helping factories continue operating and protecting jobs. A more reliable baseload system has also improved the grid’s ability to integrate renewable energy more effectively during morning and evening peak demand periods.

Operational gains have translated into better financial performance. Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings upgraded Eskom’s credit rating for the first time in more than 10 years, while the utility reported a 2.1% rise in pre-tax profit and a 1.6% increase in EBITDA for the 2026 financial year, subject to final audit approval.

Future focus

Eskom says it will continue focusing on maintaining recent improvements in electricity supply while supporting South Africa’s long-term energy transition. It is using a careful, evidence-based approach to decide when new power capacity should come online. This will also guide the gradual closure, repowering, or reuse of older coal stations, aiming to balance cleaner energy goals with keeping the system stable. A decision on this process is expected in the second quarter of FY2027, between July and October 2026.

According to the utility, the aim is to protect recent gains in performance while ensuring there is still enough reliable baseload power to support economic activity and investment. At the same time, Eskom is working to make electricity more affordable and reduce load reduction. Load reduction is a controlled limitation of electricity supply in specific areas or networks to prevent overloading local infrastructure, usually targeting high-demand users or parts of the distribution system rather than cutting power across the whole grid like loadshedding.

Eskom says more than 500,000 households are already benefiting from improved supply, with some areas now receiving uninterrupted electricity. The Northern Cape and Western Cape have fully ended load reduction, demonstrating the impact of the utility’s efforts on communities.

In the statement, Eskom also acknowledged support from the Minister of Electricity and Energy, government structures, the National Energy Crisis Committee (NECOM), and law enforcement, saying their coordination has helped stabilise the grid and protect key infrastructure.

“Eskom is translating strengthened performance into tangible results,” the utility stated. “A more stable and predictable power supply is reducing disruption, enabling businesses to plan with greater certainty, and supporting an environment where industry and investment can grow across South Africa and beyond. This, in turn, contributes to a more inclusive and resilient future for South Africa.”