Stage 6 blackout nightmare continues, but winter might not be gloomy
Eskom said the winter months work in their favour as power stations generally operate well in colder weather.
Image: REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/ File photo
Eskom expects stage 6 load-shedding to continue until Wednesday, but CEO Andre De Ruyter says the forecast for winter is not so gloomy.
The power utility held a briefing on Monday to update the country on the energy crisis after stage 6 was implemented at the weekend.
The four-hour blackouts are caused by generating-unit breakdowns at five power stations, which had to be taken offline to be repaired.
“The forecast is stage 6 will prevail until Wednesday evening peak, and by Thursday we will then start phasing that down to stage 4, with stage 3 being reached by the weekend ... We encourage people to use electricity sparingly ... That would be very much appreciated,” said De Ruyter.
The project on extending the life of the Koeberg Unit 1 for a further 20 years is on track. This project is expected to be complete by the end of June.
Koeberg’s Unit 2 would be taken down at the end of August, meaning both units would be available during the winter months of July and August, said De Ruyter.
He said that would not necessarily mean lower stages in load-shedding, but the plants operated well during the winter months.
“We have lower planned maintenance — this is to create capacity on the system for the higher demand. We also have colder air, which means our vacuum load losses are abated and cold air is denser, so there is more available oxygen which enhances combustion, so that helps.”
“We also typically have no rain in the Mpumalanga area during winter, which helps us with any negative impact of rain on coal quality. So the outlook for winter is not entirely gloomy, but we do expect a higher demand because of the colder weather,” said De Ruyter.
Since the deployment of SA National Defence Force at various power stations to curb acts of sabotage, police have made 48 arrests so far.
These are people actively involved in various criminal activities throughout the power utility, especially in Mpumalanga, said De Ruyter
“We are pleased to see significant progress in the battle against crime and corruption ... However, we still need to get the higher syndicates, and we anticipate some of the intelligence we are sharing with the State Security Agency and crime intelligence will start to bear fruit. Arresting the foot soldiers by themselves won’t help in addressing the issue,” he said.
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