Cape Town – An energy analyst expects Eskom to bump up load shedding to as high as stage 10 during the South African winter.
Eskom announced on Sunday that stage 6 load shedding would be implemented until further notice, “due to the failure of additional generating units and the delay of several units to return to service”.
“Breakdowns are currently 19 333MW of generating capacity while the generating capacity out of service for planned maintenance is 4 524MW,” the utility added.
Stage 6 loadshedding will be implemented from 16:00 this afternoon until further notice pic.twitter.com/LPYw7tNUu2
— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) May 7, 2023
IOL reported that independent energy analyst Lungile Mashele said that the utility is currently in a 6 000MW deficit, having a supply of around 25 000MW with a demand for electricity at about 31 000MW.
“I anticipate that during this week, we are going to see Stage 7 and Stage 8 load shedding which we have seen before, but obviously the utility will not communicate it as they typically do, and they will simply say we are load shedding at Stage 6 even though the number hours is much higher,” she was quoted as saying.
Mashele added that Eskom predict a demand of about 34 000MW in the winter months of June, July, and August. This would increase the deficit to a 9 000MW shortfall.
“This will no doubt take us to Stage 9 and Stage 10 load shedding, which is what I’ve been warning about since the beginning of the year, that if nothing is done, we are going to be in a worse position.
“Now one of the things Eskom has to look at as an urgent intervention is their fleet and how they implement the maintenance that they have planned for,” she was quoted as saying.
June is around the corner.
We can’t go into winter with such numbers… https://t.co/ufcFCCEoFt
— Financial Raccoon (@lungile_mashele) May 6, 2023
Meanwhile, the head of the legal team at the state capture inquiry, Paul Pretorius, has said that claims of corruption by former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter should have been investigated by the government when they were first made.
According to EWN, Advocate Pretorius on Monday said the approach by authorities was incorrect.
“You don’t say to De Ruyter, only when you have been to a police station and laid a complaint about a specific crime, will we listen to you – that’s nonsense. There must be a comprehensive anti-corruption strategy.”
Follow African Insider on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Picture: Twitter/ @Eskom_SA
For more African news, visit Africaninsider.com
Compiled by Junaid Benjamin
