By Doreen Mokgolo
Energy and Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has announced that Eskom has now provided over 200 days of uninterrupted power.
However, he warned that the utility is still facing challenges.
At a media briefing on the Energy Action Plan at Lethabo Power Station in the Free State on Monday, Ramokgopa praised Eskom’s progress but said there’s more work ahead.
Since introducing the plan in 2022, Eskom has cut unplanned outages by 8.6% and increased its energy availability factor by 7.7%.
Ramokgopa said the improvements in power generation are already helping the economy.
“Although we have reached 200 days without load shedding, we are not out of the woods yet. We are generating enough to meet demand, but our recovery plan is still in progress,” he said.
“Our goal is to achieve a 70% energy availability factor by 2025, and the team is on track to meet that target.”
He said Eskom’s recent success is due to stable leadership and a consistent approach. He also discussed efforts to fill key vacancies, especially in engineering, maintenance, and procurement, with help from the treasury.
“We’ve worked with other state-owned enterprises, like Denel, to boost security and are also positioning Eskom to participate in clean energy investments to drive growth,” Ramokgopa added.
Despite these successes, he admitted that some power stations, like Medupi, are still not performing at their best.
“We’ll know we’ve succeeded when I no longer have to talk about how many days we’ve gone without load shedding,” the minister said.
Pictured above: Minister of Electricity and Energy Kgosientsho Ramokgopa.
Source: Doreen Mokgolo
