Load shedding made a brief, yet startling return in February and now of recently in March, before Eskom was able to reconnect downed generation units. Keegan Beyers, Renewable Energies Product Manager at Rectron says the temporary lull in outages gives property owners a bit more time to research the best system for long-term energy resilience.
With limited fossil fuel capacity and aging power stations, loadshedding is something we may have to manage for the foreseeable future. The nearly year-long lull in nationwide scheduled power outages was broken recently after 309 days.
For a brief period in February and March 2025, the unwanted text messages came back announcing the dreaded return to darkness. All this amidst heavy rains and a gradual collapse of the water system.
Between 2024 and 2025, Eskom went over 300 days without staged blackouts, around the same time the country’s Government of National Unity came into being.
As of 09 March 2025, the utility has suspended loadshedding.
While this pause may offer temporary relief, the reality is South Africa’s power stations are aging.
In recent years, commercial finance for coal fired power stations has been halted due to environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns.
This means there is no new capacity in the current pipeline to power South Africa’s industry and infrastructure. This means limited power for a rapidly growing population and the economy to feed it.
Increasingly, alternative energy solutions have become a necessity, rather than a reaction to short-term crisis.
Sabotage and illegal connections are making Eskom’s job even harder, increasing security costs to protect endless kilometres of transmission lines.
Also, the distance between generation (power stations) and distribution (local municipal based stations) means a huge chunk of generated power is wasted away as thermal losses.
Cost climbing
This difficult climate is accelerating the increase in the cost of producing electricity in South Africa. Recently, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) approved a 12.7% power tariff increase for Eskom. While this was less than the initial 36.15% requested by the utility for 2025 (part of a 66% three-year increase), it is still much higher than the consumer inflation rate of 3,2%, last recorded in January 2025 (up from 3% in December).
While Eskom’s legacy power stations seem stable, global instability is pushing up energy costs. This will, in turn, drive up the cost of living and the overall cost of doing businesses. Rather than wait until the next series of power cuts, consumers must proactively begin making the transition to their own off-grid renewable systems.
Renewable cost decreasing
According to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, renewable technology cost has been steadily decreasing, while volatile global fossil fuel commodity prices have risen sharply over the past decade. The institute reports that the cost of electricity from utility-scale solar PV fell by 85 percent between 2010 and 2020, concentrating solar power (CSP) by 68 percent, onshore wind by 56 percent and 48 percent for offshore wind.
Smart power
Smart power is about more than just cutting emissions but getting the most out of solar systems. This is about delivering the correct amount to those who need it, at the right time, and from the most sustainable sources. Powered by artificial intelligence (AI) systems, smart grids use complex, evolving data models to generate the most efficient, flexible and responsive generation, storage and transmission schedules. As AI evolves to meet the advances in technology and the changes in the environment, we can expect AI to be at the forefront of creating smarter, cleaner, and more sustainable energy grids.
Conclusion
The pause in load shedding may create a sense of stability, but this is short-lived. Now is the time to invest in a long-term, backup energy solution.
With readily available stock from suppliers such as Rectron, improving affordability, enhanced safety and greater efficiency, buyers have the opportunity to research and select the best long-term power solution. The return of loadshedding, as brief as it was, should serve as a reminder that power disruptions will continue in the foreseeable future, reinforcing the need for proactive energy planning and self-generation.