A total of 484 distribution feeders have been removed from load reduction, restoring normal electricity supply to about 886 717 customers, Eskom says.
The removals represent about half of the 971 feeders targeted under Eskom’s programme to eliminate load reduction by 2027. The programme intends to benefit about 1,69 million customers across the utility’s 7,2 million customer base.
Gauteng accounts for 236 of the feeders removed against a target of 604. Eskom says full elimination has been achieved in the Northern Cape and Western Cape.
The programme combines smart meter deployment, distributed energy resource integration and expanded free basic electricity (FBE) registration, the utility said.
Eskom has deployed 1,798 million smart meters nationally since the rollout began. Of these, 409 011 have been installed on load reduction feeders, representing about 23% of meters deployed in priority areas.
“The rollout is deliberately focused on high-loss areas affected by illegal connections, meter bypassing, overloaded infrastructure and widespread electricity theft,” Eskom said.
The expansion programme has registered 571 589 customers for FBE. This is 18% above the baseline of 485 000 customers and represents about 27% of the estimated 2,1 million eligible customers, Eskom said.
The utility reported an energy availability factor of 63,54% for the financial year to date compared with 58,08% over the corresponding period a year earlier. The improvement was supported by lower unplanned outages and more consistent generation fleet performance, the utility said.
