Election day will be free of load-shedding: Ramokgopa and Eskom

Electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa and Eskom have offered assurances that no load-shedding will be implemented on Wednesday.

They denounced a social media post purporting to be a power alert and advising of imminent load-shedding. The minister's office called it "an ill-guided political ploy to mislead the country".

"Load-shedding has been suspended for 62 consecutive days and continues to be suspended," Eskom said on Tuesday night.

"Our generation availability continues to perform well. Unplanned outages are averaging at 12,500MW, below what was anticipated for our winter outlook. The energy availability factor (EAF) of four of our power stations is performing above 70%. Our year-to-date EAF is improving gradually and is at 60.73%."

Ramokgopa praised Eskom for its sustained and rigorous effort to self-correct, stabilise and strengthen the generation system.

"This work is buoyed by an across the fleet improvement in energy availability and reduction in breakdowns after a conscious decision in March 2023 to invest in heightened planned maintenance," he said.

"In addition to no load-shedding, this work has meant that, over the past eight weeks, Eskom has significantly reduced the amount of diesel used by the open-cycle gas turbines.

"The ministry remains confident that the work we have been leading over the past 12 months, supported by the many competent Eskom employees and its leadership team, will continue in the coming months and ultimately place the country on a firm foundation of energy security to support our inclusive economic growth and development agenda."

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