South Africa can end load-shedding if it does the right things for a long time. This includes households and businesses reducing their reliance on Eskom’s electricity supply.
This is feedback from energy analyst Chris Yelland, who told Classic Business that, in the long term, if the country continues to reform the electricity industry, load-shedding will become a thing of the past.
While unplanned breakdowns — unplanned capacity loss factor (UCLF) — are down this year compared to the same period last year, this is offset by increased planned maintenance outages — planned capacity loss factor (PCLF).
Yelland explained that this means that the availability of the Eskom fleet — its energy availability factor (EAF) — this year is similar to that of the same period last year.
Despite the similar EAF, South Africa is experiencing less load-shedding this year than last year.
