Cape Town – Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says Eskom has shown consistent improvement in its performance over the past week, adding that fewer breakdowns, lower planned maintenance, and lower demand are the reasons for the lower stages of load shedding.
“We have seen tremendous improvement over a passage of time,” Times Live quoted him as saying.
Ramokgopa was giving an update on the energy crisis on Sunday.
He said that generation units have experienced marginal gains, resulting in a five-day average of 29,288MW compared to the previous week’s 28,889MW.
This increase in performance allows Eskom to carry out planned maintenance, which has risen from 3,302MW to 3,451MW.
Ramokgopa said the rate of unit failures has also decreased, falling from 15,870MW to 15,157MW.
“For the first time, we are beginning to go below the psychological mark of 15,000MW. It is an illustration of the degree improvements are made. The system is beginning to perform,” he said.
Ramokgopa noted that Eskom has been able to avoid load-shedding between midnight and 16:00, implementing it only from 16:00 to midnight.
The minister also spoke about the exempting of Eskom from minimum sulphur dioxide emissions, saying this could potentially reduce load shedding by at least two stages.
Electricity minister, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, says the emission regulation exemption will allow Eskom to return three units to service at Kusile power station. Ramokgopa says the units will contribute about 2400 megawatts to the grid. #DStv403 pic.twitter.com/n13nL9rChO
— eNCA (@eNCA) June 25, 2023
Last year, Eskom applied for permission to operate three units at the Kusile Power Station without flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) technology, which is responsible for reducing sulphur dioxide emissions. This request was made after a chimney at Kusile Unit 1 collapsed due to a significant accumulation of ash.
Eskom has planned to construct temporary chimneys for units one, two, and three at Kusile, with completion expected by December of this year.
According to EWN, Ramokgopa believes that this exemption could bring approximately 2,400 megawatts of energy back onto the grid.
“Although we have these exemptions, Eskom is meeting all the emission parametres, barring the ones of sulphur content. The issues of particulate matter we are meeting all of those,” he said.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
