South African utility Eskom reached 365 consecutive days without loadshedding on May 15, its first uninterrupted year of electricity supply since September 2018.
The company’s latest update says it continues to make steady progress in strengthening power system stability, with profits driven by continued improvements in plant performance, reliability and operational discipline.
Loadshedding in South Africa first started in late 2007, but increased in the late 2010s and early 2020s. The country had ten months without loadshedding between March 2024 and January 2025.
Chris Ahlfeldt, energy specialist at Blue Horizon Energy Consulting Services, explains pv magazine that lower demand, rising rates and the rapid build-up of behind-the-meter rooftop solar PV capacity, now estimated at more than 7.5 GW, have helped to halt load shedding for the time being.
Ahlfeldt added that while Eskom has improved the energy availability factor (EAF), which measures the utility’s maximum possible generation capacity, to 62%, the increase has been a premium for customers as the costs of rehabilitating expensive coal-fired power stations and running them longer continue to be passed on.
“Fortunately, Eskom’s diesel consumption has decreased with the increased EAF, but they are still dependent on it during peak periods, highlighting the opportunities for cheaper clean energy, battery storage and flexible demand solutions,” Ahlfeldt said.
Eskom figures show that diesel expenditure reached ZAR559.17 million ($34.4 million) between April 1 and May 28 this year, down from ZAR3.426 billion in the same period last year.
“This ongoing reduction demonstrates both the cost savings and operational improvements achieved through Eskom’s ongoing turnaround efforts,” Eskom’s latest update adds. “Overall, this positive trend highlights the growing stability and efficiency of the energy system.”
The utility adds that it has managed to eliminate load shedding, a targeted intervention where Eskom deliberately cuts electricity to prevent local equipment from overloading, exploding or malfunctioning, to more than 651,000 households across the country. This figure corresponds to 39% of the targeted households. Complete elimination has been achieved in the country’s Northern and Western Cape, and work continues to address underlying local network constraints, Eskom said.
Ahlfeldt added that South Africa has reached a critical stage in implementing major electricity market reforms, including the introduction of a wholesale market following draft documents recently released by the country’s energy regulator (NERSA) on procurement contracts, trading rules and wholesale prices.
“Unfortunately, these draft documents demonstrate some favoritism to protect the incumbent utility’s expensive and environmentally friendly coal generating facilities,” Ahlfeldt told me. pv magazine. “If the rules go too far to protect incumbent utility revenues rather than incentivize them to compete, South Africa will likely see limited private investment in new infrastructure and consumers will end up paying for electricity that is more expensive, less reliable and causes more pollution.”
Ahlfeldt called on Eskom to take the opportunity to modernize its business model and adapt to South Africa’s emerging competitive electricity market, rather than trying to retain market share by limiting competition.
“Eskom could shift its focus to where it can add the most value under the new market model while increasing the flexibility of its generation fleet so it can respond to short-term price signals, variable renewable energy production and changing demand patterns,” he said.
