Cape Town – Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says that teams are tirelessly working to bring back online the units responsible for the escalation of load shedding to stage 6.
Ramokgopa said this on Sunday while giving an update on the performance of the grid.
He said that boiler tube leaks at nine units led to an escalation to stage 6 load shedding, with 4,400 megawatts taken off the grid from Wednesday to Friday.
“Eskom management has taken a decision, having identified boiler tube leaks as a major area of concern that undermines the availability of these units, to work directly with the original equipment manufacturers, so that they do not go through the middleman. They are engaging with the people who had designed these units.
“The people who know the DNA of these units are the ones who are assigned the responsibility to deal with this, so that we are able to do a proper root cause analysis, and be able to diagnose and then provide a prognosis, and return these units to service at the quickest possible period of time, having taken into account all safety concerns,” Ramokgopa said.
WATCH] Electricity Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says efforts are being made to avoid stage six #Loadshedding and balance the grid. “Since November last year, we have made sure that we don’t get to stage six.” #Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/cEaD2kFCIU
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) February 11, 2024
The power stations whose units had contributed to the 4 400 megawatts include Lethabo, Matimba, Duvha, Majuba, Camden, Grootvlei, Kriel and Medupi.
“Our planned maintenance is at about 7 000MW… If it means we ramp up load shedding for the purposes of conducting planned maintenance… we will be able to return the units healthier… for the long-term gain,” he said.
Some units have already come back online, and the minister expects a significant reduction in load shedding by Tuesday.
“We are expecting to return [the other units] that failed… by Wednesday. By Tuesday, we are expecting to see a significant reduction, going back to stages 4, 3, 2, and 1 [of load shedding]… As part of planned maintenance, a significant portion of units will come back towards the beginning and end of March, where we will be moving from 7 000MW, to lower levels of between 5 000MW and 6 000MW, where you are going to see significantly improved intensity of load shedding.”
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Source: AFP
Picture: X/@SAgovnews
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