Cape Town — Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says significant strides have been made in enhancing power station efficiency, as the energy availability factor (EAF) has 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 is 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
IOL reported that the government has adopted a new approach by going station to station and has targeted Kendal, Majuba, Kriel and Matla power stations to improve their energy availability factor.
According to News24, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) has received the go-ahead for Eskom to start a project that will see new solar PV constructed at three existing power stations, as well as potential power and energy that would be procured from Mozambique.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
