Eskom eyes green power as its energy sales drop

South African state power utility Eskom has stabilised the electricity grid after years of outages and is turning to green energy to counter falling sales, according to Chief Executive Officer Dan Marokane.

The company maintained an energy availability factor — which measures the reliability of units — at 65% or above in the past three weeks, Marokane said in an interview from the utility’s headquarters in Johannesburg. That shows Eskom is recovering from breakdowns that left less than half of its fleet of power plants running, triggering severe supply interruptions.

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The utility has also reintegrated key units in recent months, adding generation to the overall system. Even though it’s used diesel-powered turbines more year-on-year for the past five months, Marokane is confident that usage will be “very minimal” until the end of the financial year through March 2026.

The century-old power company that generates more than 80% of South Africa’s electricity by burning coal plans to add at least 2 gigawatts of construction-ready projects by 2026 that will scale up to 32 gigawatts — including green hydrogen — by 2040, as plants running on the dirtiest fossil fuel are gradually retired, Eskom said last month.

Eskom faces a decline in demand as the price of electricity continues to climb faster than the annual inflation rate. Tariffs are set to increase even further, after a settlement last month with the national energy regulator.

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“We are preparing ourselves to find other new revenue streams,” Marokane said. “We’re also bringing in some innovation and that includes part of a rollout of our renewables program where our top customers have clearly indicated the appetite to work with us, to get green electrons from us.”

South Africa’s government has taken steps to end Eskom’s monopoly and open up the electricity market, measures that the utility has opposed. Its legal challenge against trading licenses granted by the national regulator sparked calls by business-lobby groups and the nation’s electricity minister, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, for the utility to withdraw or suspend the action.

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Marokane said the reason for the case is to establish rules around the reforms.

The minister asked Eskom to “drop the case or give the process a chance – we’re giving the process a chance, we’re actively engaging in the process,” he said. “I’m very positive that we will come out with rules.”

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