Eskom forecasts load shedding-free summer

Zuko Komisa

Eskom forecasts a load shedding-free summer season for South Africa, from September 2025 to March 2026, a significant improvement on previous years.
The positive outlook is attributed to a major recovery in Eskom’s generation fleet and the addition of 4,000MW of extra capacity.
While load shedding is projected to end, the Energy Minister acknowledged the separate issue of load reduction, promising a strategy to address it soon.

South Africans can expect a summer without power cuts, as Eskom, the national power utility, has announced it forecasts no load shedding from this month until the end of March next year.

This optimistic outlook follows a successful winter period where electricity was supplied 97% of the time, with only 26 hours of load shedding recorded.

Eskom’s positive forecast for the 2025/26 summer stands in stark contrast to previous years, marking a significant recovery from the 176 days of load shedding experienced during the 2023/24 summer.

The improved performance is credited to an additional 4,000MW of capacity and the dedicated efforts of Eskom staff.

Dan Marokane, Eskom’s Chief Group Executive, praised his team, stating their work has delivered a “structural shift” in the performance of the generation fleet.

He noted that this turnaround has also led to substantial cost savings, including approximately R16 billion in diesel expenditure over the last financial year.

Minister of Energy and Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, echoed this sentiment, confidently stating that the end of load shedding is “within touching distance.” He did, however, acknowledge the ongoing challenge of load reduction, a separate issue caused by non-technical losses and network overloads.

Ramokgopa confirmed that a strategy to end load reduction is being finalised and will be announced to the public within the next two weeks.