South Africa last experienced such loadshedding joy in 2021 when it was suspended for 75 days from 23 July 2021 to 6 October 2021. The power utility said its energy generation continues to surpass the winter forecast for the year, with unplanned outages currently at 12 000MW.
Eskom will strategically utilise its peaking stations with the winter outlook, including the Open Cycle Gas Turbines to meet the high demand during morning and evening peaks. ‘The winter forecast, published on 26 April 2024, anticipated a likely scenario of unplanned outages of 15 500MW and load shedding limited to Stage 2 – this remains in force’. it said.
It has shown a significant reduction in the Unplanned Capacity Loss Factor , decreasing by 35.5%, as well as an increase in the Energy Availability Factor by 8% from 1 April 2024 to 13 June 2024.Eskom CEO, Dan Marokane, has been in office for 100 days and has given an update on the winter outlook. He said South Africa is on track for a comfortable winter as there is a positive trend.
‘Our focus is really beyond today, beyond load shedding, setting up this business for the next version. What we have is a really good base to work on,’ said Marokane.