Cape Town – Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says Eskom is increasing power cuts to replenish emergency reserves.
Eskom implemented Stage 3 load shedding on Sunday until 5:00 on Monday due to the loss of over 2 700 megawatts from various power stations.
“And if we had not experienced that, of course, you would not be seeing the kind of intensity of load shedding that we are experiencing,” the minister said while briefing the media on the updates of the energy action plan on Sunday.
The return of Units 1 and 3 in Kusile Power Station has mitigated the intensity of load shedding, but the failure of generating units led to burning diesel and open-cycle gas turbines.
“As big units return, when you see the kind of cluster of failures that we’ve seen, the intensity of load shedding is not as acute. Of course, we’re on Stage 3 [load shedding] and that’s the highest that we have experienced. But what Unit 1 and 3 have done is to create an additional buffer and why it’s important that Unit 2 and 5 also return,” Ramokgopa said.
He said that the malfunction of generating units has led to the ongoing utilisation of diesel and open-cycle gas turbines (OGGT) operating continuously.
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“That’s something that we haven’t done and avoided over the past four or five weeks before the last two weeks. We’ve been burning very little diesel and preserved that and ensured that we rely on the ability of the units on their own to give us the megawatts that are required.
“That’s why the media statement that went out by Eskom today is to say to say we want to build that emergency reserve because we have depleted them.”
The minister expressed optimism about the return of five units by night, including those from Duvha, Majuba, and Lethabo power stations.
Unit 1 at Koeberg Power Station recently synchronised with the grid after a year-long outage for steam generator replacement.
“The expectation is that it must return back to service on time. But if you had to draw from the experiences of Unit 1, it doesn’t give us that degree of confidence and that’s why there’s that discussion that we have with the management.
“We expect the second synchronisation to happen on the 2nd and 3rd of December. And then that’s when I’m sure that we will be able to take out Unit 2 for the kind of attention that is required so that we’re able to meet the licensing requirements,” said Ramokgopa.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
