Cape Town – Eskom is set to receive an additional 1 000 megawatts of gas-fired energy from Mozambique as part of a plan to address the country’s energy crisis.
The move is aimed at stabilising the electricity grid and reducing the frequency of power cuts.
Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa held a meeting with Mozambique’s mineral resources minister Carlos Zacarias at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Monday to secure the additional power supply.
According to SABC News, Ramokgopa said an emergency power purchasing agreement has been finalised with Mozambique.
In the short term, South Africa will receive 100 megawatts of electricity from Mozambique, which will help alleviate the current power shortage, he said.
Additionally, there are plans to import up to 1 000 megawatts of electricity from Mozambique in the long term, which could reduce the need for load-shedding by one stage. said the minister.
“We’re meeting today and minister Zacarias now has confirmed that Mozambique is able to offer us 100MW immediately. As I speak to you our technical teams Eskom and EDM are meeting to finalise the details that in the next six months we can get an addition 600MW and going into the future there are multiple sources in access of a 1000MW. So we are very grateful to the Mozambican people who are beginning to make the kind of strides that we had promised the South African people,” the report quoted the minister as saying.
Eskom had recently reported improvements in the performance of its power plants and expressed cautious optimism that households and businesses may experience fewer power cuts during the winter season.
[Photos] The Minister in the Presidency responsible for electricity, Dr @Kgosientsho_R together with Minister @MaropeneRamo host Mr Carlos Zacarias, the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources in Mozambique at the Union Buildings, Pretoria. pic.twitter.com/giCCwYR1vq
— South African Government (@GovernmentZA) June 12, 2023
“We anticipated a much tougher winter but with us improving on the performance, we’re actually making up. So, if we continue on this trend, and once again I need to say keeping breakdowns to below 15,000, having sufficient diesel reserves, I think we’re good to go,” EWN quoted Eskom’s Eric Shunmagum as saying.
Last week, Ramokgopa said significant strides had been made in enhancing power station efficiency, as the energy availability factor (EAF) had now reached an impressive 60%.
Speaking at a media briefing on Friday, Ramokgopa said that the last time the EAF in the country was this high was in September 2022 and the increase would mean lower stages of load shedding.
He said there was a plan in place to improve the situation and ensure that all power stations are running smoothly
“Government is making significant, yet marginal, progress in relation to the improvement of the plan, which intends to better the performance of Eskom’s power stations in order to ensure energy security.”
The minister said there has been a reduction in unplanned losses to less than 16 000MW, from over 18 000MW. In addition, planned maintenance has been reduced to approximately 2 500MW.
[Read] Minister of Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, has attributed the reduced stages of load shedding to Eskom’s improved generation over the past week https://t.co/urU7OccckM pic.twitter.com/nfdG7sslu2
— @SAgovnews (@SAgovnews) June 9, 2023
[IN PICTURES]: The meeting is a follow up to a previous bilateral engagement that explored the possibility of securing energy from Mozambique in the short to medium term. https://t.co/8OyEFQvrq3 pic.twitter.com/QS8AXsSDPk
— Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa (@Kgosientsho_R) June 12, 2023
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Picture: Twitter/@GovernmentZA
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
