Eskom starting to 'turn the corner' in addressing severity of load-shedding — Ramokgopa

Electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says the return to service of Kusile's unit 3 signals the beginning of “turning the corner” in reducing levels of load-shedding.

The minister gave an update to the media on Sunday on the implementation of the energy action plan.

He said the return of Kusile unit 3 changes the complexion of the game as Eskom strives to reduce load-shedding.

“I am very happy to indicate that we are now beginning to turn the corner in relation to additional capacity. As I indicated in the last briefing the Kusile units are going to be indispensable to the resolution of this problem and in the short term to help us to reduce the intensity of load-shedding,” he said.

Unit 3 is one of the three Kusile units put out of commission in October last year when the flue gas desulfurisation (FGD) unit, a chimney-like structure, partly collapsed.

This contributed to the strain on the national grid which was more acute during winter.

Ramokgopa said before the FGD unit was restored, they needed to do a root cause analysis of the walls of the chimney that is meant to release the emissions into the atmosphere.

“Kusile unit 3, one of the three units, is now producing 550MW and we will continue to ramp it up so that we get to 712MW up to 800MW. Now we are beginning to turn the corner in this instance, we have that additional generating capacity that we are bringing back.”

Ramokgopa added that they would be returning the other units to service during October or in early November.

“Those units are coming back and of course; the three units are going to reduce the unplanned capacity loss factor. The rate at which the units are failing, the units that are offline we are going to reduce that by a maximum just on these three units — a maximum of 2,400MW going into the immediate future.

“The rate at which they were able to return this unit ahead of time is something that is impressive. The team of men and women at Kusile had sleepless nights, making sure that we are able to return these units safely, they are able to perform ahead of time,” he said.

Eskom announced on Sunday afternoon that load-shedding has been suspended until Monday afternoon.

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