Cape Town — Let there be light! South Africans can look forward to an early Christmas present as Minister of Electricity, Kgotsientso Ramokgopa, announced Eskom’s generating capacity is at 55% — enough to keep the lights on for Christmas.
Meanwhile, Eskom announced that the improvement of generating capacity means loadshedding is likely to stay away until next week Friday, giving South African a full week of uninterrupted energy supply.
“Due to consistent improvement in available generation capacity and the lower demand, as well as sufficient emergency reserves, loadshedding will remain suspended until next week Friday at 16:00. Eskom will closely monitor the power system and communicate should any significant changes occur.”
Friday, 22 December 2023:
Due to consistent improvement in available generation capacity and the lower demand, as well as sufficient emergency reserves, loadshedding will remain suspended until next week Friday at 16:00.
Eskom will closely monitor the…
— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) December 22, 2023
Esko
Ramokgopa said that Eskom’s enery generation has now hit an adequate 55%, with the troubled power utility hoping they can push that figure up to 60% by the first quarter of 2024. Ramokgopa gave credit to the return of three generating units at Kusile Power Station in Mpumalanga as a key contributor, SABC News reported.
He added that Eskom reduced its us of diesel, which has become expensive and unsustainable.
“When you have seen the lights are on, very little diesel has been burned, it has been the machines sustaining themselves. The highlights have been the return of these three Kusile units.”
“Don’t underestimate the fact that we delayed the decommissioning and part of the reason why we have not burned diesel even at higher levels of intensity, part of the reason why the lights are on and will remain on going into the near future, is because of these units that were meant to be taken out, these units continue to perform, Kamden, Hedrina,” he added.
Despite the improved energy capacity and an extra 3 000 megawatts available, Ramokgopa said the system remains unreliable.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
