Eskom acting CEO Brian Molefe said on Friday it is a sign of Eskom’s state of stability that there has been no load shedding for 26 days, despite 900MW of Koeberg unit 2 going down for maintenance.
Unveiling the power utility’s maintenance plan for the next year at a media briefing, Molefe said as more new build units come online, Eskom will be able to do more planned maintenance, which will improve stability of the overall system.
“Everyone at Eskom knows we cannot have any more delays,” he told the briefing on the progress to find solutions for the country’s electricity sector.
He said Eskom this year pleaded for South Africans to be patient when it does maintenance and there has to be load shedding, but “I don’t think we can do that again”.
Listing the Eskom war room’s five-point plan, Molefe said the company would smooth out the maintenance plan to ensure that it fills in available gaps for maintenance to have sufficient capacity to meet demand.
On the war room’s five-point plan, Molefe said:
1. Eskom emergency measures (maintenance and operational efficiency): “So far we have achieved 26 full days without load shedding this month; UCLF (unplanned capability loss factor) below targets 7GW at end of August 2015; the new build programme celebrated unit 6 of Medupi coming online; and unit 5 boiler tests are partially complete.”
2. Co-generation: “STPP (short-term power purchase programme) contracts (827MW) extended for 12 months (1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016).”
3. The use of gas: “Eskom is working with PetroSA on OCGT (open cycle gas turbine) conversion from diesel to dual fuel (using both diesel and gas).”
4. Other independent power producers: “Eskom is working with relevant government departments to align on funding and timeline requirements.”
5. Demand-side management: “Eskom is finalising integrated demand management contracts for the compact fluorescent lighting and energy for load management for industrial customers. Nine hundred and seventy-five megawatts is expected from these integrated demand management initiatives over MYPD3 (multi-year price determination 3).”
Molefe said while it may look like South Africa would experience heavy load shedding in May to July next year, Eskom would ensure that this does not happen by adjusting when it does maintenance. — Fin24
