Dan Marokane is expected to be appointed as the new chief executive officer of South Africa’s state power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. after an almost year-long search for a candidate, according to people familiar with the decision.

The company’s failure to boost generation from its old and poorly maintained power plants has led to nationwide electricity outages — implemented to prevent a total collapse of the grid. The worsening situation has weighed on a process to fill the top job at Eskom, which has had 14 leaders since 2007.