Eskom reached a milestone in its ongoing recovery plan, one which it hasn’t achieved for the past six years: topping 35GW of available generation capacity.
The utility achieved this figure on 23 July, and it was well above the evening peak demand on that day of 30.7GW. The last time Eskom had more than 35GW of available generation capacity was on 16 July 2018.
Load shedding has now been suspended for four consecutive months, and in the past seven days the utility exceeded an energy availability factor of 70%, marking a major turnaround from just a year ago.
What’s more remarkable about the turnaround is that it has been achieved mainly during winter – when demand is typically higher – and without resorting to extensive use of its diesel-burning open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs), although it has still been tapping into them during peak demand periods.
“This achievement is attributed to reduced unplanned outages, which have dropped to 9.2GW,” Eskom said in a statement on Friday. “The generation recovery plan continues to deliver efficiencies for Eskom, with an approximate R9.1-billion reduction in OCGT diesel expenditure from 1 April 2024 to 25 July 2024, compared to the same period last year.
“The last time South Africa experienced such a prolonged load shedding suspension was over four years ago, between 16 March 2020 and 9 July 2020, when load shedding was suspended for 116 days,” it said.
Top performers
Six power stations have now recorded EAF levels above 70%: Medupi, Kusile, Matla, Matimba, Grootvlei and Lethabo. Several others achieved a figure of more than 60%.
“As a result of … the recovery plan, our operational efficiency continues to surpass our winter assumptions. Current unplanned outages have averaged between 9.8GW and 12.4GW since 1 April 2024, the start of Eskom’s 2025 financial year. Today’s figure has reduced to 10.6GW, significantly below the winter 2024 forecast,” Eskom said.
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Eskom warned that despite the remarkable improvement in the generation picture, load shedding remains possible as the winter slowly draws to a close.
“The winter forecast, published on 26 April 2024, anticipated a likely scenario of unplanned outages of 15.5GW and load shedding limited to stage 2 – this remains in force,” it cautioned. – © 2024 NewsCentral Media