Energy

Eskom suspends load-shedding early

Eskom suspended load-shedding early Sunday morning after it was able to sufficiently replenish its emergency reserves throughout Saturday. 

The utility took 3,000 MW offline from 5 p.m. on Friday in order to balance the national grid after several generation units broke down. 

These generation units required extended maintenance and could not be returned to service quickly, forcing Eskom to implement load-shedding for the first time in ten months. 

The power cuts were announced after an earlier warning on Friday that caused the rand to weaken as much as 0.5% against the dollar. 

Bonds also softened, with the yield on benchmark 2035 government notes rising eight basis points to 10.4% before paring losses.

The outages resumed a day after the regulator granted Eskom permission to raise tariffs by 12.7% in the next financial year, well short of the 36% it requested. 

“This represents a temporary setback”, Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said at a media briefing on Friday. “We remain on course.”

CEO Dan Marokane previously said the ten-month period of stable electricity supply was due to enhanced maintenance of generation equipment. 

Improved company morale and efforts to curb crime and corruption also played a role in boosting performance.

Power outages, which had lasted up to 12 hours a day, were suspended in the weeks leading up to last year’s national election. 

This raised questions about whether Eskom was relying on expensive diesel turbines to sustain the power supply.

Eskom denied these claims, and scepticism about the sustainability of its improved performance diminished over time as the utility highlighted its reduced dependence on diesel for auxiliary units.

Marokane emphasised that the return of load-shedding would not alter Eskom’s commitment to enhancing operational efficiency.

“We remain on the path we started,” he stated. “Our focus is on improving reliability.”

Ramokgopa added that Eskom is working to bring 2,500 megawatts of capacity from its larger generation units online by March. 

Once completed, he said, the company could confidently declare that “load-shedding is behind us.”

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