On August 22, Eskom reported that unplanned outages fell to 7 265 MW – the first time below the 8 000 MW mark since December 2020. Around 4 850 MW of capacity was scheduled to return to service from August 25, further strengthening supply.
Available capacity stood at 30 442 MW against a forecast evening peak of 25 378 MW, providing some margin on the system. Kusile Unit 6 continued to supply 720 MW ahead of commercial operation expected in September.
Performance indicators remained mixed. The energy availability factor for August averaged 64,98% while the year-to-date figure was 60,56%. The unplanned capability loss factor was 27,85% (roughly two percentage points higher than the same period in 2024).
Open-cycle gas turbines produced 999,95 GWh between April 1 and August 21 at a fuel cost of R5,9 billion with a load factor of 8,53% – almost double last year’s figure.
