Load-shedding could drop a bit this winter, says Eskom

With Eskom predicting permanent stage 2 and 3 load-shedding for the next two years, South Africans will breathe a sigh of relief during winter.

The ailing power utility said it was working hard to ensure maximum energy availability during winter. It said it appreciated and was fully aware of the difficulties caused to the public and the economy by continuing power capacity constraints.

“Eskom would like to apologise to the people of SA for these difficulties and assure the public that, together with the government and other stakeholders, we are working with urgency to resolve the generation capacity constraints and reduce load-shedding as soon as possible,” it said.

Eskom said although load-shedding stages have been high and for extended periods, it does not indicate the power system is approaching a blackout.

The electricity utility reiterated that the only way to end load-shedding was to add additional capacity. The shortfall is estimated at 4,000MW to 6,000MW of generation capacity. That supply deficit will only increase as the fleet ages and its performance continues to deteriorate, it said.

“Eskom is working hard to execute maintenance of the power station fleet to improve reliability of the generating units and the energy availability factor.

“Planned maintenance, now at 6,022MW (about 11% of installed capacity), is optimised during the summer months and will taper off towards the high-demand winter period. This is to ensure maximum availability during winter to meet as much demand as possible,” it said.

“In addition to the planned maintenance programme, Eskom is focusing on returning as many units with long-term breakdowns as possible. The target is to return about 6,000MW of generating capacity onto the grid during the next 24 months. These are in the top 6 target power stations. Each power station has detailed recovery plans.”

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