Eskom headquarters in Megawatt Park, Johannesburg. (Luba Resore/Gallo Images).
- Eskom said load shedding is likely to be limited to stage 2 over the winter, with the worst-case scenario being stage 5.
- There was no load shedding in the country for 30 days, which CEO Dan Malokane said was due to improved fleet reliability.
- Spending on diesel for open-cycle gas turbines in April was about half that of the same month last year.
- For more financial news, visit: News24 Business top page.
Eskom has not ruled out winter load shedding, but said it would likely be limited to stage two.
Stage 2 is designated as the base case. This means that in most cases, load shedding is expected to remain within Stage 2, but in a worst-case scenario, load shedding extends to Stage 5.
Utility executives on Friday issued an update on the outlook for the winter after 30 consecutive days of no-load operations.
Chief Executive Officer Dan Malokane described it as a milestone, given the past two years, when the energy crisis intensified.
By comparison, in 2023, South Africans had a total of 30 days without load shedding.
Malokane said it was worth noting the 30-day mark as motivation for staff to repeat this performance. He said this reflects progress on the power generation recovery plan, which has been in place since last year and focuses on improving vehicle reliability.
Eskom said solo travel was down 19% compared to last year, while unplanned travel was down 9%.
This means that the frequency and intensity of offloading has decreased.
For skeptics who think utilities are burning more diesel to power open-cycle gas turbines, Malokane says diesel spending is 50% of the budget and 30 days without load said that it had been achieved.
“…we are not burning diesel as much as others would like to believe…we have a lot of ships in our ports and at sea right now that we don’t anticipate needing at this time. I can't sell the diesel I had.
According to Eskom's presentation, spending on diesel in April 2023 was R3.1 billion. By comparison, data as of 22 April 2024 showed that expenditure was approximately R1.4 billion.
He emphasized that the improvement in power generation performance was due to advances in maintenance programs.
The budget for maintenance is approximately R11 billion, points out Bheki Nxumalo, Group Executive for Generation. Adding to this the extensive refurbishment of the power plant, the capital expenditure for the power recovery plan would be R30 billion per year.
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Malokane said Eskom was heading into the winter season in a slightly better position than last year, with unplanned losses down by 1,000 megawatts.
The South Africans faced shedding during stages two to four last winter and “occasionally” during stage six last year. Unplanned losses averaged 16.5 GW.
Apart from a reduction in unplanned breakdowns at the six priority stations (Tutuka, Majuba, Kushir, Kendal, Matra and Duba) this winter, there is an advantage in that Kushir units 1 to 3 are operational.
This year's goal is to average unplanned losses of 14-15.5GW. Peak demand is expected to average 22.2GW.
election
Eskom has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the South African Electoral Commission (IEC) to ensure proper planning for electricity supply is in place.
“We are working with the IEC to ensure that from a planning perspective, the IEC has the right plan in place to conduct a successful election,” said Monde Bala, Group Executive for Distribution. Ta.
Responding to questions about the MOU, Mr Malokane said there was nothing untoward about such a nationally important collaboration.
Mr. Bhalla also agreed that this is the standard process to be followed in major national events. “We want to ensure that the event runs as smoothly as possible. IEC has similar MOUs in place with other key players, such as telecommunications companies and those providing data. I think so,” he added.
Mr Bala said the aim was to ensure that Eskom was able to respond in terms of emergency response.
