LETTER: SA power plants findings probably embarrassing
Graft and mismanagement among reasons for poor performance at Eskom
21 February 2024 - 15:03
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When will citizens see the independent report on the 14 power stations commissioned by the Treasury last year? I bet its findings are embarrassing, because it’s going to show what the Daily Investor discovered when it compared the performance of Eskom’s Tutuka and Duvha power stations with two US-based coal power stations, Wansley and Scherer.
The Duvah power station was commissioned in 1980, and the final unit was completed in 1984. The Wansley power plant in Georgia was commissioned in 1976.
Tutuka was commissioned in 1985, the final unit going online in 1990.The Scherer power plant was commissioned in 1982 and is of a similar age to Tutuka.
If Eskom’s claim of ageing infrastructure is causing a significant deterioration in performance is true, the US and SA power stations should show similar trends.
Yet from 2009 to 2021 Eskom’s Tutuka and Duvha had an average energy availability factor (EAF) of 64% and 56% respectively. In 2021 they had average EAFs of 37% and 44%, respectively. This is expected to be far worse in 2024; in 2023 Tutuka’s was 19%.
By comparison, Wansley and Scherer had an average EAF of 90% and 89% respectively in the same period.
In Eskom’s case, poor skills and work ethic, corruption and mismanagement are the reasons for the poor performance; read André De Ruyter’s book for more details.
We all know that with the right hardball management this can be sorted, but then “Mr Electricity”, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, would have to stop looking after the corrupt and inefficient people who feed off it.
This government needs to go before it sends us all back to the stone age.
Rob Tiffin Cape Town
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
LETTER: SA power plants findings probably embarrassing
Graft and mismanagement among reasons for poor performance at Eskom
When will citizens see the independent report on the 14 power stations commissioned by the Treasury last year? I bet its findings are embarrassing, because it’s going to show what the Daily Investor discovered when it compared the performance of Eskom’s Tutuka and Duvha power stations with two US-based coal power stations, Wansley and Scherer.
The Duvah power station was commissioned in 1980, and the final unit was completed in 1984. The Wansley power plant in Georgia was commissioned in 1976.
Tutuka was commissioned in 1985, the final unit going online in 1990. The Scherer power plant was commissioned in 1982 and is of a similar age to Tutuka.
If Eskom’s claim of ageing infrastructure is causing a significant deterioration in performance is true, the US and SA power stations should show similar trends.
Yet from 2009 to 2021 Eskom’s Tutuka and Duvha had an average energy availability factor (EAF) of 64% and 56% respectively. In 2021 they had average EAFs of 37% and 44%, respectively. This is expected to be far worse in 2024; in 2023 Tutuka’s was 19%.
By comparison, Wansley and Scherer had an average EAF of 90% and 89% respectively in the same period.
In Eskom’s case, poor skills and work ethic, corruption and mismanagement are the reasons for the poor performance; read André De Ruyter’s book for more details.
We all know that with the right hardball management this can be sorted, but then “Mr Electricity”, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, would have to stop looking after the corrupt and inefficient people who feed off it.
This government needs to go before it sends us all back to the stone age.
Rob Tiffin
Cape Town
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
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