‘There is light at the end of the tunnel’: Eskom on load-shedding

11 July 2022 - 12:53
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Eskom hopes to lift the current round of load-shedding in 10 days' time. Stock image
Eskom hopes to lift the current round of load-shedding in 10 days' time. Stock image
Image: 123RF/JAKUB GOJDA

Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter says the power utility is trying its best to bring a speedy end to load-shedding, but there are significant challenges.

De Ruyter said risk remains high as the system is unreliable and unpredictable.

While stage 4 load-shedding is expected for most of the week, De Ruyter said by Friday they hope to move to stage 3 from 5am to midnight and stage 2 from midnight to 5am.

“If all our units return as planned we intend to reduce load-shedding for the weekend to stage 2 around the clock.”

De Ruyter said the power utility is doing its best to return stability to the system.

“Unfortunately due to the unlawful strike, we have suffered significant backlogs in maintenance, and we had to operate plants under conditions which are less than ideal. It will therefore take a number of weeks to fully recover,” he said.

Eskom COO Jan Oberholzer said six power stations were directly affected by the strike.

“The loss in capacity was as a result of the industrial action and due to no routine maintenance being performed, a lack of timeous breakdown repairs, a lack of maintenance and operating personnel as well as a lack of unit controllers to control normal functioning of the power stations,” he said.

He said the lack of operating and maintenance staff during the strike resulted in inadequate essential maintenance

“No routine maintenance was performed at these stations during the strike. Koeberg unit 2 has further been delayed and is only expected to return by the end of the month,” he said.

Oberholzer said they have four generators out of service due to boiler tube leaks but the units are expected back during the week.

“Since July 3 we had 13 generators shut down because of defects and failures. Some units will return over the next two days and will contribute to additional capacity. We recovered our emergency dam and diesel levels, however we will use these during the week when required. During the night, when demand is lower, we will top up the dams and diesel,” he said.

Oberholzer said Eskom hopes to lift the current round of load-shedding in 10 days’ time.

“However, the risks remain because of the unpredictability and unreliability of the system,” he said.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said earlier on Monday that Eskom had made land available next to existing power stations for private investment in renewable energy projects. He said design modifications had been completed to improve the performance of Medupi units 1, 2 and 3.

Confirming they had identified parcels of land with existing grid access spread across several provinces, De Ruyter said the power utility had been in high-level government meetings over the weekend which would hopefully “accelerate” solutions to bring more capacity to the grid.

De Ruyter welcomed the announcement of a police task force to address sabotage and criminal activity at Eskom.

“The outlook for load-shedding is that there is light at the end of the tunnel, but we appeal to South Africans to continue to conserve electricity. I have received many reports of street lights on during the day and office buildings with all lights burning all night. We appeal to all energy users to conserve electricity, particularly during the peak hours of 5pm until 10pm,” he said.

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