South Africa’s Eskom has spent R3.76 billion ($212 million) to operate its diesel-fueled open cycle gas turbines (OCGTs).
In a statement on June 6, the state power utility said it has spent R3.76 billion since 1 April 2025, to generate 631.52 GWh of electrical energy.
As the country’s winter season deepens, Eskom has promised to reduce its reliance on diesel-fueled open cycle gas turbines (OCGTs).
“This is higher than the 246.91GWh generated during the same period last year,” Eskom said in the statement.
The latest data from the power utility shows that Eskom spends an average of R73 million ($4.1 million) on diesel per day, with the highest amount being an estimated R274 million ($15. 5 million) spent in just one day on 4 April 2025.
With this large spending on diesel, Eskom promised in their statement to reduce their reliance on OCGTs by returning capacity to the grid after long-term repairs.
The utility affirmed that reliance will drop as maintenance activities reduce.
“Diesel usage is expected to decline further as more units return from long-term repairs and maintenance activities are reduced, increasing available generation capacity”.
Avoiding unplanned power cuts
The power utility stated that the grid remains stable but strained, reiterating its 2025 Winter Outlook of keeping loadshedding at stage 2 at most and at no more than 21 days until the end of winter in August 2025.
However, Eskom’s data shows that the national grid faltered when unplanned outages averaged 15 200 MW over four days between 31 May and 3 June 2025, which exceeded the benchmark set by Eskom of keeping this number between 13 000 MW and 15 000 MW to avoid loadshedding.
Last week, Eskom reported that they spent approximately R220 million on diesel in seven days starting on Saturday, 31 May 2025.
Eskom also stated that it has adequate emergency reserves in place and are being strategically deployed to support demand during the morning and evening peak periods, as the country experiences a cold spell in this week.
Power cuts in Johannesburg
While Eskom strives to be confident about its ability to prevent power cuts, residents of Fordsburg in the country’s most populous city, Johannesburg, have been without power since Sunday, local news media have reported.
The power cuts come at a time when the South African African Weather Services (SAWS) has issued warnings for extreme weather conditions as the winter season continues.
Local media reports that Fordsburg residents are struggling to keep warm in the extreme cold and are unsure just how long the power outage will last.
