Power utility Eskom has been burning diesel heavily for the last three months as the cutback in capacity from breakdowns at power stations grew to 25%. Eskom said it started burning diesel in December last year and had so far spent up to R306.54-million on diesel to run its open cycle gas turbines (OCGTs). This week breakdowns at Eskom power stations reached the critical 10000MW threshold, or 25% of capacity, which required it to continue using diesel-powered plants at a higher rate than usual. Two years ago Eskom committed to an 80:10:10 ratio - meaning it would always have 80% electricity availability, 10% of capacity would be earmarked for planned maintenance and 10% for unplanned maintenance. It revised its target to 12% for unplanned maintenance this year and is operating on a 78:10:12 ratio in this financial year. Eskom said its breakdowns had reached 11.64% against the upwardly revised target of 12% from 10% two years go. It said it would achieve the initial ratio of 80:10:10...
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