As South Africa enters the winter season, Eskom is placing renewed emphasis on baseload generation to ensure energy security and maintain stable power supply.
Speaking at Enlit Africa 2025 in Cape Town this week, Eskom’s Group Chief Executive, Dan Marokane, said baseload power will carry the country’s electricity demand through the colder months. This focus comes alongside Eskom’s updated plans to extend coal plant operations beyond previous shutdown schedules, reinforcing the role of baseload in stabilising the national grid.
Eskom will not shut down 17 coal units across five power stations by 2027 as previously planned, Marokane affirmed, citing energy security, economic pressure and supply continuity as the primary reasons for reliance on traditional energy sources.
“Coal-fired baseload remains critical, particularly during high-demand winter periods. Eskom’s generation recovery plan is focused on harnessing installed capacity to provide the backbone of energy security as we go forward,” he said.
The generation recovery plan is central to improving performance. “Over three years, we have seen the energy availability factor rise from just below 55% to around 63%. We aspire to reach 70%. At that level, we are confident we will be able to consistently meet demand,” Marokane said.
He reported that Eskom is currently at about 55% execution of its operational recovery targets. “In the next few weeks, we will deliver on the key milestone – the Medupi Power Station unit that will come into operation this month.
“Of importance is the 2,5 GW that will be in the system by July this year, made up primarily of Koeberg Unit 1, Kusile Unit 1 and Medupi, among others. We should be able to continuously meet demand.”
Technology-led transition and the finance gap
“Eskom’s path to net zero will be technology-led,” Marokane said. “In South Africa, there are multiple pathways to achieve energy security. We are comfortable that we are taking into consideration the mandate of a clean environment but also the economic impact.”
The utility has re-examined “every aspect of clean coal generation” while reaffirming its commitment to the country’s nuclear ambitions. “We run the two biggest nuclear reactors. We are capable of delivering on the nuclear ambitions of the country and we are working on more opportunities to bring in additional nuclear capacity,” Marokane said.
