Eskom has not carried out load shedding for 300 days, or greater than 9 months, the state-owned electrical energy utility declared on Tuesday.
It’s the longest interval that lights have stayed on since 2018, and Eskom has voiced its confidence that it might construct on this document via its give attention to enhancing era at its coal-fired fleet of energy stations.
“This milestone is the result of Eskom implementing the era restoration plan since March 2023, which has delivered sustained and ongoing structural enchancment within the era fleet,” it stated in an announcement.
“Credit score goes to all our 40 000 devoted and expert Eskom workers who’re dedicated to serving South Africa. Our sights are actually firmly targeted on delivering one yr with out load shedding at midnight on 26 March 2025,” stated group govt for era Bheki Nxumalo within the assertion.
“These 300 days with out load shedding have been characterised by a big discount in unplanned outages, which have lengthy been one of many largest challenges, a notable enchancment within the vitality availability issue of roughly 7%, and financial savings in diesel expenditure of R16.4-billion.”
CEO Dan Marokane, who was appointed to steer Eskom final March, stated: “Public sentiment is shifting: enterprise leaders who as soon as needed to make investments valuable capex in self-generation have enquired whether or not they need to revert to investing in Eskom for his or her energy wants. The financial savings we’re making in diesel spend are invested within the enterprise to drive efficiencies additional and place Eskom on a path to profitability and long-term operational and monetary sustainability.”
‘Not out of the woods’
Nonetheless, vitality minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa warned in December that there’s nonetheless a threat of load shedding within the coming months.
He advised a media briefing that “we’re inside touching distance of the decision of load shedding however we aren’t essentially out of the woods”.
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“Though we’re seeing the form of phenomenal efficiency that we’re seeing, it can be crucial that we proceed to repair our eyes on the bouncing ball, and that bouncing ball is to make sure that we finish load shedding, after which in the long run to make sure that we’re in a position to present the adequate head area for the South African economic system to develop,” Ramokgopa stated. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media
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