Eskom celebrated one year without load shedding in a media release on 15 May 2026.
It said that at exactly at 24:00 on 15 May, Eskom will complete a year without the need to implement load shedding. This was last implemented on a rotational basis on Thursday, 15 May 2025, from 16:00 to 22:00.
Eskom noted that the last time South Africa experienced one full year without load shedding was in September 2018.
During Eskom’s previous financial year, supply interruptions were limited to 26 hours across four days in April and May 2025.
Notably, there have been no interruptions in the current financial year to date (from 1 April to date), underscoring the improved strength and reliability of the power system.
Winter Outlook
Eskom said there will be no load shedding this winter. The Eskom defined winter period is from 1 April to 31 August 2026.
Eskom’s 2026 Winter Outlook said the positive winter outlook followed the successful conclusion of the summer period. In the summer the national grid operated with ongoing sustained reliability.
It stated that Eskom has moved beyond short‑term recovery into a phase of stability and sustained energy security. This will ensure that homes, businesses and industries remain powered through the peak winter months.
This stability is underscored by Eskom maintaining a consistent energy supply of 98.9% in the last Financial Year (1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026).
Previous load shedding
Load shedding, which is the controlled reduction in electricity supply to prevent a national blackout, has been a feature of the South African economic landscape since 2007. It has cost many billions of lost economic output.
In 2018, load shedding was only 220 Gigawatt-hours (GWh). This low amount was in part due to the imperative to keep the lights on at all costs. Consequently, the use of expensive diesel-fuelled Open Cycle Gas Turbines, which are supposed to be use for peaking power, was ramped up.
Additionally, Eskom cut back on planned maintenance. This resulted in more unplanned breakdowns in future.
Consequently, the GWh lost to load shedding increased to 11 839 in 2022. It peaked at 24 638 in 2023. It eased to 4 100 GWh in 2024.
Focus on planned maintenance
Eskom celebrates one year due to Eskom’s focus on increased planned maintenance. This increased from only 9.94% of capacity in 2019 to 13.25% in 2024. The resulted in unplanned outages easing to 25.06% in 2025 from 26.36% in 2024 and 33.08% in 2023. The Energy Availability Factor (EAF) subsequently improved to 62.44% in 2025 from 59.79% in 2024 and 54.69% in 2023.
In the first 16 weeks of 2026, the EAF is 67.22% with planned maintenance at 12.7% and unplanned outages at 19.74%.
These improvements have enabled Eskom to lower its base‑case assumption for unplanned outages to approximately 12 Gigawatts (GW). This compares with 13 GW in the 2025 winter outlook.
Even under higher‑stress conditions, where unplanned losses approach 14 GW, the system is expected to remain resilient. This will ensure that no load shedding will take place. Eskom has a surplus peak capacity of about 6 GW over the winter period.
