Eskom's power stations get off to strong start in 2026 compared with last 5 years
Eskom’s power stations have started off 2026 on a high. The percentage of generating capacity that is available to provide electricity to the grid – or the energy availability factor (EAF) – is the highest it has been in six years, according to Eskom’s weekly system status reports.
For the first five weeks of this year the EAF has averaged 72%. During the same period last year it was 56%.
A higher EAF is an indication that there are fewer breakdowns (or unplanned outages) at the power stations (mostly coal) that make up the bulk of Eskom’s electricity generation fleet.
Eskom uses EAF as a measure of the health of the national grid and its target is to keep it at 70% or above.
In 2023, when loadshedding was at its worst, the average EAF for the year was 55%. In 2025, it improved to 62%.
With this year’s encouraging start, perhaps we can look forward to Eskom meeting its 70% target.
The improved EAF means Eskom is using less diesel to generate electricity, which is a massive cost saving.
In fact, Eskom says it has excess capacity, with 5,854MW in “cold reserve”, which means it has that much electricity available to fire up and add to the grid if it’s needed.
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