Latest news with #CapacityLoss
The South African
18-05-2025
- Business
- The South African
Eskom confirms load shedding remains suspended
With the continued suspension of load shedding, the power system remains stable and approximately 2 600MW are expected return ahead of Monday's evening peak. 'The power system is stable, allowing for the suspension of load shedding since 22:00 on Thursday, 15 May 2025. 'While stable, the system remains constrained and adequate emergency reserves are in place and strategically deployed to support demand during peak winter periods,' Eskom said. The Unplanned Capacity Loss Factor (UCLF), which measures unplanned outages, stands at 28.30% for the financial year-to-date (1 April to 15 May 2025). This reflects a slight improvement of ~0.2% compared to 28.47% recorded during the same period last year. The financial year-to-date planned maintenance has averaged 6 669MW, representing 14.26% of total generation capacity – an increase of 3.1% compared to the previous year. 'As the winter season sets in, planned maintenance has been decreased, averaging 5 407MW this week (9 to 15 May) – slightly higher than the typical winter maintenance levels in prior years. 'The Open-Cycle Gas Turbine (OCGT) load factor increased to 10.94% this week, compared to 3.87% in the previous week (2 to 8 May 2025). The financial year-to-date OCGT load factor reflects a 2.8% decrease compared to the year-to-date figure from the previous week,' Eskom said. Diesel usage is expected to decline as more units return from long-term repairs and maintenance activities are reduced, increasing available generation capacity. Eskom said the Winter Outlook, published on 5 May 2025, covering the period ending 31 August 2025, remains valid. 'It indicates that load shedding will not be necessary if unplanned outages stay below 13 000MW. If outages rise to 15 000MW, load shedding would be limited to a maximum of 21 days out of 153 days and restricted to Stage 2,' the power utility said. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
The South African
30-04-2025
- Business
- The South African
Parts of Limpopo to be affected by a 11-hour power outage
Eskom has confirmed that areas supplied by the Vaalwater and Dorset substations in Limpopo will experience an 11-hour power outage on Wednesday, 1 May, due to emergency maintenance on the Nylstroom-Vaalwater 66kv line. The outage is scheduled from 9:00 to 20:00 and will affect Vaalwater Town, Vaalwater Township, and neighbouring farms. The power utility said this action is necessary to ensure the reliability of supply and to prevent potential long-term disruptions. 'The safety and well-being of our community and customers are paramount, and we urge all customers to treat all electrical connections as live during this period,' Eskom said in a statement. It also asked customers not to log faults during the power outage. Eskom maintenance amid system improvements The emergency work comes as Eskom continues with its broader maintenance programme ahead of the winter season. 'Planned maintenance continues to ensure system readiness for increased winter demand, to meet regulatory requirements and to ensure environmental compliance,' the utility said. Over the first 24 days of April 2025, Eskom placed 7 164MW under planned maintenance, amounting to 15.32% of total generation capacity—an increase from last year's 11.52%. At the same time, the Unplanned Capacity Loss Factor (UCLF) has improved to 27.82%, a drop of about 2.1% from the same period in 2024. Eskom noted that between 18 and 24 April, average unplanned power outages dropped to 13 430MW, 472MW less than last year. Eskom also revealed that it had spent about R2.19 billion year-to-date on fuel for Open-Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGTS), generating 372.05 GWh—more than double the output in 2024. The utility expects this fuel usage to decrease as maintenance slows down over winter. Let us know by leaving a comment below or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
