Eskom said on Friday that its energy availability factor (EAF) — the share of installed generating capacity available to produce electricity — reached its highest daily level since September 2017, while unplanned generation outages fell to their lowest daily level since July 2018. The state-owned utility said the readings reflect sustained improvement in plant performance.
The combination of higher availability and fewer breakdowns points to a more reliable fleet and reduces reliance on emergency generation. Lower unplanned outages typically curb the need for costly diesel-fired peaking plants and can create space for scheduled maintenance, improving the odds that recent gains hold through periods of high demand.
Daily indicators can be volatile, so the durability of the trend will hinge on weekly and monthly averages, performance of the coal-fired stations that dominate the fleet, and the balance between planned maintenance and peak winter demand. Any shift in the use of diesel peaking units, breakdown rates at large units, and adherence to maintenance schedules will show whether Eskom can convert these daily highs into a stable improvement in supply risk.
For more detail, read the full announcement.