TechCentralTechCentral
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    NEWSLETTER
    • News

      Load shedding returns, and may last until Thursday

      16 August 2022

      Jo’burg to issue RFP for 500MW of electricity ‘within weeks’

      16 August 2022

      MTN hires outgoing Icasa CEO Willington Ngwepe into top role

      16 August 2022

      Rain in embarrassing climbdown over Telkom statement

      16 August 2022

      Coal miner Seriti plans R12-billion Mpumalanga wind farm

      16 August 2022
    • World

      Semiconductor boom turns to bust

      16 August 2022

      Tencent plans to offload R400-billion Meituan stake: sources

      16 August 2022

      Ether leaps higher on verge of Merge

      16 August 2022

      Institutions eye crypto but retail investors remain nervous

      15 August 2022

      Tencent woes mount, even after $560-billion selloff

      12 August 2022
    • In-depth

      African unicorn Flutterwave battles fires on multiple fronts

      11 August 2022

      The length of Earth’s days has been increasing – and no one knows why

      7 August 2022

      As Facebook fades, the Mad Men of advertising stage a comeback

      2 August 2022

      Crypto breaks the rules. That’s the point

      27 July 2022

      E-mail scams are getting chillingly personal

      17 July 2022
    • Podcasts

      Qush on infosec: why prevention is always better than cure

      11 August 2022

      e4’s Adri Führi on encouraging more women into tech careers

      10 August 2022

      How South Africa can woo more women into tech

      4 August 2022

      Book and check-in via WhatsApp? FlySafair is on it

      28 July 2022

      Interview: Why Dell’s next-gen PowerEdge servers change the game

      28 July 2022
    • Opinion

      No reason South Africa should have a shortage of electricity: Ramaphosa

      11 July 2022

      Ntshavheni’s bias against the private sector

      8 July 2022

      South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

      4 July 2022

      Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

      21 June 2022

      Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

      13 June 2022
    • Company Hubs
      • 1-grid
      • Africa Data Centres
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Amplitude
      • Atvance Intellect
      • Axiz
      • BOATech
      • CallMiner
      • Digital Generation
      • E4
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • IBM
      • Kyocera Document Solutions
      • Microsoft
      • Nutanix
      • One Trust
      • Pinnacle
      • Skybox Security
      • SkyWire
      • Tarsus on Demand
      • Videri Digital
      • Zendesk
    • Sections
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud computing
      • Consumer electronics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Energy
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Motoring and transport
      • Public sector
      • Science
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home»Sections»Energy»Eskom is in dire straits: These numbers show why

    Eskom is in dire straits: These numbers show why

    Energy By Staff Reporter26 October 2021
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Eskom has suspended several key people at its Tutuka power station and is even expecting arrests due to the “shocking state of neglect” that has largely contributed to the low availability of its power stations.

    This, together with three major incidents – one every month since August – has contributed to the load shedding every night since last Saturday and which is set to continue until at least the weekend.

    This was revealed at Eskom’s quarterly system update where Eskom executives showed a brave face in light of a further deterioration in plant performance and a worrying outlook.

    On Sunday the plant availability was at a mere 58.5% against a target of 70%

    In the absence of its CEO Andre de Ruyter, who is in Europe for the Cop26 climate conference, Eskom’s chief operating officer, Jan Oberholzer, admitted that it is taking longer for the “reliability maintenance” announced early last year to show results.

    Oberholzer repeatedly apologised for the current and recent load shedding.

    On Sunday the plant availability was at a mere 58.5% against a target of 70%. The average so far for the current financial year is 65.3%, which compares poorly to the previous year’s 67.9%.

    In the meantime, the utility is using its diesel-gobbling open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs) extensively to keep the lights (mostly) on. According to Eskom group executive for generation Phillip Dukashe, the utility has so far this year produced 772GWh with its own OCGTs, against a provision for the full year of 211GWh.  It indicates a load factor of 7.3% at year-end against a target of 1%

    OCGT bill

    So far, the OCGT bill is at R2.5-billion. This makes it increasingly difficult for the cash-strapped state-owned enterprise to make money available for maintenance, he explained. Accordingly, the generation performance is rapidly deteriorating.

    So far this year, Eskom has experienced 342 unit trips against a target of 196, 4.61GW of load losses against a target of 3.97GW and 23.1% unplanned load losses against a target of 18%, Oberholzer said.

    Dukashe said he was shocked when a new power station manager, appointed in February, recently took him on a tour of Tutuka, situated near Standerton. “I used to work at Tutuka. I could not believe the shocking state it is in,” he said.

    Eskom spokesman Sikonathi Mantshantsha added that all six units at Tutuka, each with a capacity of 609MW, were in operation two weeks ago “for the first time since 2019”.

    Dukashe showed that Tutuka has been the single biggest contributor to unplanned breakages so far this year.

    Station contribution to total UCLF FY2022 30 September YTD – 23.14%. Source Eskom

    The three major incidents have jointly further reduced the available generation capacity by more than 2GW. These are:

    • An explosion at Medupi unit 4 (720MW) on 8 August, just a week after the whole power station was completed and finally handed over. A preliminary investigation report has been submitted showing Eskom staff deviated from prescribed procedures. The generator, turbine and auxiliary plant were damaged and the unit could be offline for as long as two years.
    • A fire at Kendal unit 1 (640MW) on 11 September resulted in damage to the civil structure. It is expected to return to service by December. The cause of the fire is not yet clear, but Eskom is looking into possible design defects.
    • On 24 October, Koeberg unit 1 (920MW) tripped for the second time after returning to service on 3 September following a 75 day outage. Oberholzer gave the assurance that there is no nuclear danger, but added that Eskom is “extremely concerned why there have been two trips on unit 1 after a very long outage”.

    In the meantime, the maintenance programme punted to reduce load shedding is lagging.

    Dukashe explained severe challenges to the reliability maintenance programme that is aimed at correcting years of neglect and over-utilisation of the generation fleet.

    Of the 84 outages scheduled for the year ending 31 March, only 18 have been completed and a further nine are in progress. Another 22 have been deferred to later in this financial year, and 10 to the next financial year, which leaves 25 remaining.

    Source: Eskom

    He explained that proper planning before a major outage is crucial. Some spares must be ordered 24 months in advance. If the budget is not available or the release of the money to the generation unit is delayed it impacts not only the specific unit, but also the whole maintenance programme.
    Eskom has budgeted R8.5-billion in the current financial year for running maintenance and a further R8-billion for outages.

    Oberholzer said this must be seen against the backdrop of Eskom’s R400-billion debt burden, which has left it with huge interest payments and a liquidity crisis. Chief financial officer Calib Cassim therefore has to carefully assess competing demands when allocating cash.

    Dukashe further complained that procurement processes are hampering the maintenance programme as key long-term contracts have not yet been concluded but are carried on a month-to-month basis. He also said leadership at power station level is often lacking. Eskom has lost a lot of key skilled staff members and the necessary “vigilance and urgency” is often lacking.

    Oberholzer confirmed that not enough progress has been made in improving Eskom’s procurement processes.

    According to Dukashe the generation fleet is still unreliable and unpredictable. This is mainly addressed by mini-overhauls and general overhauls. It will take another three years before these have been completed at all the coal-fired power stations.

    • This article was originally published by Moneyweb and is used by TechCentral with permission
    Andre de Ruyter Eskom Jan Oberholzer Phillip Dukashe
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleSouth Africa to prioritise electric cars in climate action plans
    Next Article Network rack cable management: Tips to reduce cost, headaches and risk

    Related Posts

    Load shedding returns, and may last until Thursday

    16 August 2022

    Jo’burg to issue RFP for 500MW of electricity ‘within weeks’

    16 August 2022

    MTN hires outgoing Icasa CEO Willington Ngwepe into top role

    16 August 2022
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    HPE SimpliVity: addressing SMBs’ data conundrums

    16 August 2022

    Digital transformation – don’t get caught unprepared

    16 August 2022

    Seven reasons your business needs IP surveillance cameras

    15 August 2022
    Opinion

    No reason South Africa should have a shortage of electricity: Ramaphosa

    11 July 2022

    Ntshavheni’s bias against the private sector

    8 July 2022

    South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

    4 July 2022

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2022 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.