Eskom’s power system stabilisation: What it means for your long weekend

Eskom has confirmed that the power system is stable after successfully restoring a total of 3,320MW of capacity over the past 24 hours.

“This will ensure a stable power system with enough supply to meet the long weekend’s demand. Emergency reserves are adequate and will be strategically utilised when necessary to manage peak demand.

“Planned maintenance continues to ensure system readiness for increased winter demand, to meet regulatory requirements and to ensure environmental compliance,” said the power utility in a statement.

Eskom is also slated to release its winter forecast on May 5, 2025. “While loadshedding remains suspended and electricity demand continues to rise, Eskom urges the public to help prevent transformer overloads and related equipment failures, which can result in explosions and prolonged outages.

“This can be achieved by avoiding illegal connections, purchasing electricity only from Eskom-accredited vendors and ensuring that customers take responsibility for regularising their electricity usage. Eligible households are encouraged to register for free basic electricity with their local municipalities.”

To stabilise the grid, it claimed that 4,058MW will be returned to service before the evening peak on Tuesday, April 29.

From April 18-24, 2025, average unplanned outages decreased to 13,430MW, a 472MW improvement over the same time last year.

Year-to-date (April 1-24, 2025), the average unscheduled outage is 13,243MW.

On Friday, unscheduled outages reached 13,519MW, up from 11 ,362MW last week. The available generation capacity is 28,386MW (minus 720MW from Kusile Unit 6), while the peak demand for Friday night is expected to be 27 073MW. Unplanned outages fluctuate owing to outage slips, which occur when a planned maintenance unit is reclassified as unplanned due to exceeding the timetable.

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