Eskom suspends loadshedding, for now
Eskom has announced the suspension of loadshedding on Wednesday morning, effective until further notice.
This follows the recovery of its generation capacity and the replenishment of emergency reserves.
It comes after almost a week of scheduled power outages during which South Africans were plunged into darkness, with loadshedding reaching as high as stage 6 on Sunday.
In a statement, Eskom reiterated that loadshedding is largely behind us due to significant structural improvements in its generation fleet, and the utility’s focus remains on eliminating loadshedding as a constraint on the economy.
“There will be valuable lessons to be learned from the set of multiple unit trips that were unconnected and purely technical in nature, related to electrical and control system issues within auxiliary parts of our power stations,” said Eskom Group Chief Executive, Dan Marokane.
The power utility also emphasized its commitment to high levels of maintenance, highlighting its success in achieving a 99% electricity availability rate for the current financial year (from April 1, 2024, to February 21, 2025), saving approximately R17 billion in diesel costs.
“We have delivered on our efforts, and these results are clear,” said Eskom Group Executive for Generation, Bheki Nxumalo.
Eskom reiterated its dedication to ensuring a reliable power supply for all South Africans and advancing the country’s energy recovery efforts.
“Ongoing planned maintenance stands at 6 660MW, in line with our summer period maintenance strategy. These increased levels are designed to prepare for winter and meet license and regulatory requirements. We reaffirm our commitment to preventing a return to the severe levels of loadshedding experienced in 2023,” Nxumalo concluded.
The power utility is expected to update the country’s current energy capacity on Friday.
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