There is no risk of going beyond stage 8 — De Ruyter

3 years ago 1

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Despite several energy experts and analysts warning that South Africans could experience load-shedding levels higher than stage 8, Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter said this wouldn’t be the case.

During an Eskom media briefing on Monday, 20 February 2023, the CEO assured media that the power utility doesn’t see the need to go beyond stage 8.

He was responding to a question about why Eskom hasn’t developed schedules for load-shedding for stage 9 and greater.

“We do have contingency plans should there be a further loss in generation capacity. At this point in time, we do not anticipate that there is a risk of going beyond stage 8,” he said.

“I can give the country the assurance that we are doing everything in our power to ensure that we do not end up in a situation where we go beyond that.”

Referring to the difference between stage 6 and stage 8 load-shedding, De Ruyter said the 2,000MW that Eskom has at its disposal is “more than adequate to offset any further issues”.

However, he noted that the system lacks reliability, creating the need to plan for such unforeseen events.

“At this point in time, the anticipation is that we will remain at stage 6 load-shedding until [we are] past the evening peak on Wednesday,” De Ruyter said.

“At this stage, there is no need for us to contemplate going any further than that.”

De Ruyter said Eskom had resolved constraints over diesel supplies, allowing it to run its open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs) when needed.

The OCGTs can provide up to 2,200MW of generation capacity to the power grid, offsetting two stages of load-shedding.

The CEO said Eskom had secured the backing of the National Treasury regarding funding for diesel supplies.

Treasury is giving assurance to the banks from which Eskom is borrowing money, and standing behind the state-owned power utility’s loans.

Levels of load-shedding higher than stage 8 would likely only be experienced during the winter months when demand on the grid is significantly higher than the rest of the year.

However, De Ruyter said Eskom would ensure that approximately 1,628MW of generation capacity currently offline for repairs is returned to the system by winter.

This includes the 928MW that Koeberg’s unit 1 generator will provide when resynchronised to the grid at the end of June 2023.

Eskom is replacing the unit’s steam generator to extend its lifespan by around 20 years.

De Ruyter said Eskom would only take unit 2 offline for similar maintenance at the end of August, meaning both units will contribute to the grid over the winter peak.

Kusile power station’s unit 5 generator suffered a gas air-heater fire during construction, delaying its synchronisation to the grid.

The unit will add around 700MW and is expected to come on-stream in July 2023.

De Ruyter also highlighted another contributing factor to the current loss of generation capacity — load losses resulting from high ambient temperatures.

He explained that Eskom has 600MW of load losses at the Matimba power station in Limpopo for this reason.

While this shouldn’t be a problem in winter, demand on the system is also higher during the colder months.