South Africa's Power Minister Kgosiensho Ramogopa spoke to reporters as he arrived to attend the annual State of the Union Address in Cape Town.Photo: Dwayne Sr./Bloomberg via Getty Images
We've all seen the meme of load-shedding posts that are sure to come back after the May elections.
This week, the country reached a significant milestone: 40 days without power outages. This is unusual these days. Many cynics suspect that Eskom has been given quiet directives to remain in power at all costs in an election year.
But if you listen to Electricity Minister Kgoshyensho Ramokgopa's fortnightly update on energy activities, you'll hear about maintenance. Thanks to a focus on maintenance late last year, the company now has more power generation capacity, he claims.
It certainly helps that units at stations like Kusile have come back online and added megawatts to the grid.
Independent analysts are divided. Some believe that there will be less demand during peak hours. Some believe that the increase in renewable energy sources such as solar has eased dependence on Eskom.
But it's diesel, and some say our newfound power comes from burning lots of it. Diesel is primarily used to run open-cycle gas turbines, which are usually an expensive reserve reserved for emergencies.
Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said this week that R5.8 billion was spent on diesel in 2019-20, R5.75 billion in 2020-2021 and R8.6 billion in 2021-22. Eskom burned diesel worth R21.25 billion in 2022-23 and R23.38 billion in 2023-24. The numbers for the past two years have been significantly higher than before.
Reports this week cite the opinion of some experts who believe it would be more cost-effective to spend these amounts on diesel than to deal with high levels of load shedding, which would severely impact the economy. Masu.
Nersa, which determines how much Eskom can spend when it receives state funds, said the amount Eskom spends on diesel is much higher, with half of this quarter's diesel budget spent in one month. The diesel budget will be exhausted quickly and that will inevitably mean higher tariffs for us unfortunate consumers.
South Africa's leadership, Eskom, and the country's general mismanagement have turned most of us into cynics. So, if you don't see any load reduction, you should be suspicious.
I find it hard to believe that a company as poorly run as Eskom suddenly went into effective maintenance last year. We are struggling to be confident that the winter outlook announced by Eskom, which foresees a second stage of load reduction, will materialize.
At least Mr Ramogopa and Eskom's new chief executive Dan Malokane are speaking with some truth when they admit that no one is under any illusions that load shedding is over – blackouts are still with us. will attack.
How often this happens remains to be seen. How much we spend on diesel this year will ultimately determine whether the respite in load shedding is due to the use of diesel or actual changes in the operations of power plants and utilities. Justified cynicism and skepticism remain the prevailing trend today.
