South Africans can look forward to a winter largely free from load-shedding, with power utility Eskom projecting a worst-case scenario of only Stage 2 power cuts.
The utility’s winter outlook factors in anticipated breakdowns ranging between 13,000MW and 15,000MW.
Eskom CEO Dan Marokane said the return of key units—Medupi Unit 4, Kusile Unit 6, and Koeberg Unit 1—will collectively inject approximately 2,500MW into the grid, helping to meet peak winter demand.
“This year’s Winter Outlook prediction is built on an improvement in operational performance and overall efficiency. Load-shedding was the lowest in Eskom’s last financial year (FY 2025) compared to the previous two years. In FY 2025, we delivered power 96% of the time; in the previous year, the figure was just 9.9%. Our diesel open-cycle gas turbines were utilised approximately 50% less in FY 2025 than in the two prior years, saving around R16 billion,” said Marokane.
“Against this progress, we have seen some setbacks in operational excellence, as evidenced by the recent load-shedding requirements between January and April 2025. A targeted plan has been put in place to reinforce operational discipline and accelerate recovery initiatives to address the root causes of the recent load-shedding events,” he added.
Meanwhile, during a media briefing on Eskom’s Winter Outlook held on Monday, 5 May, Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa welcomed the outlook, stating that the utility is entering a new era focused on “energy security.”
“That’s very important, and that’s why when we have periodic episodes of load-shedding, it’s a significant setback on our ambition to ensure that we are able to sustain that transition, and I’m confident with what Eskom is sharing with you.
“You will see that now we are getting to a point where we will be saying we are ending load-shedding and we are transitioning into energy security,” Ramokgopa said.
VOC News
Photo: Eskom/X
