Matimba coal power station in Lephalale. (Paul Botes/AFP)
A long-awaited report commissioned by the National Treasury and carried out by Germany's VGBE consortium finds that the poor performance of Eskom's coal-fired power plants is largely due to a “dysfunctional and overly complex” management system within the organization. It has been found.
The 600-page report found that up to six levels of load shedding could be prevented by addressing plant deficiencies and implementing “wise operating and maintenance practices.”
“Eskom Power Generation has been trapped within this complex management system for far too long and is no longer able to maintain or improve the technical performance of its coal-fired power plants,” the report said. states.
The report said the country was at risk of losing 13,000 megawatts of generation capacity, equivalent to 13 stages of load shedding, from Matimba, Kendal and Medupi power stations.
“The raw water treatment plants at Medupi and Matimba power stations (both sites share this plant) are in urgent need of maintenance and upgrading. Additionally, installing a second independent water treatment plant would be an even better option. “If the existing power plants fail, 12 (9,800 MW) will be taken off the grid,” the report said.
“The Kendal water treatment facility is in very poor condition and requires urgent maintenance and refurbishment. If the existing power plant were to fail, six units of 3,840 MW would be taken off the grid. “We urgently need a temporary unit to make this possible,” he added.
The report said that although Eskom's problems and their solutions are known, the utility's management has failed to implement appropriate measures sustainably and successfully.
The report said a lack of authority and transparency by decision makers and interference in megawatt parks is believed to be one of the root causes of the utility's crisis. This added to low staff morale, lack of technical skills, and poor financial management.
The report noted that eliminating red tape, particularly in staffing and procurement processes, is a top priority.
“The current electricity crisis can only be overcome within power plants. It is therefore essential that power plants are immediately given the authority to manage their technical turnaround, unencumbered by lengthy internal procedures,” the report said. added.
“The EAF of Eskom's coal-fired power plants, which have an installed capacity of approximately 35,550 MW, is approximately 51% compared to the international benchmark of approximately 78%,” the report said.
“The overall health of the plants is often mediocre or poor because of years of incorrect operation and management procedures.”
The main objective of the coal-fired power plant report is to “understand the causes of the low Energy Availability Factor (EAF) of coal-fired power plants (50.83% as of April 2023) and develop measures to improve the situation. It was “to do”.
The report points out that organizational hierarchies and opaque decision-making processes create a huge amount of red tape, including lengthy procedures and a lack of accountability. Decision-making is often delegated to committees, but there are too many committees at all levels of the hierarchy.
“Without immediate intervention, the situation will worsen further,” the report said, adding that outsourcing maintenance to people unfamiliar with the plant's requirements made the dire situation worse.
The coal fleet is centrally managed and plant management has very limited authority. Plant management requires following complex procedures, which prevents day-to-day operations and maintenance issues from being managed in a timely and effective manner.
The report states that all appropriate solutions to these challenges can be summarized as follows: “Operations and maintenance (O&M) must be improved and performed in accordance with industry standards.”
The report recommended urgent work needs to be carried out to avoid total collapse at Eskom's power stations, including Medupi and Kusile.
Eskom said in a statement that it welcomed the report's recommendations and was grateful to Treasury for commissioning the report and for providing debt relief to the utility.
As a result of these two things, Eskom says it has achieved a number of positive results in the nine months since the report's evaluation period. This included addressing design-related issues at the Medupi and Kusile power stations through refurbishments, which Eskom said had significantly increased the availability of the power stations.
Eskom added that it had recovered 3,510MW as of January 2024 through a concerted effort focused on priority power plants. Each power plant has its own detailed recovery plan and is centrally monitored.
Eskom added that work has started on Kushir 6, Medupi 4 and Koeberg 2, which is expected to add 2,500MW to the grid by the end of the year.
“The power recovery plan has so far halted the decline of electric furnaces,” Eskom said.
