Eskom gives load shedding update as it prepares for more power cuts
Power utility Eskom says it will introduce stage 2 load shedding on Monday evening to replenish necessary energy reserves. However, not all of its problems can be directly attributed to technical failures, it said.
Addressing a media briefing on Monday afternoon (7 February), Eskom chief executive Andre de Ruyter said the situation was ‘less than ideal’ after recoveries seen this weekend and a positive prognosis this morning.
He noted a number of units had been lost during the day, leading to a deterioration of system performance.
The key figures show:
- Planned load losses of 5,350MW
- Unplanned full losses 10,825MW
- Total unplanned outages of 15,932MW
While the country does have enough reserves to last it until this evening, as it is early in the week, Eskom will seek to preserve its diesel and pump storage reserves, he said.
He added that Eskom will be taking action against underperforming plant managers who had failed to perform their duties at an adequate level and which contributed to the latest round of power cuts.
Breakdowns
Since midnight, Eskom says it has lost a unit each at Camden, Kusile, Duvha and Matla power stations. Furthermore, the return of a unit at Kusile and two units at Majuba power stations are delayed.
Eskom chief operating Jan Oberholzer said that meetings this morning were positive and that the power utility expected to see a full recovery by Tuesday.
However, a further seven breakdowns were reported during the day which resulted in 2,100MW. “This is not only the machines, but we have significant challenges with human capital, that have led to issues,” he said.
“We have a challenge in terms of skills, we have a challenge in terms of urgency – and this is something we are addressing.”
“If you look at the commitments currently made by the power stations it indicates that a number of units will be returned by 20h00 tomorrow evening. If that is unsuccessful and we don’t have any breakdowns, I believe that we can easily bring back 2,000MW.” However, he said that additional risks must also be considered – including additional breakdowns.
Consequence management
Oberholzer said that a recent site visit to Majuba power station showed that workers typically have a lack of ‘battle experience’, and do not have the ability to deal with the crises currently being seen at Eskom.
He added that many senior workers and mentors have since left the power utility which means there is little human capital to fall back on. He noted that this was not limited to the generation side of the business.
De Ruyter said that it was ultimately up to the group’s executives to take accountability for performance, but that plant managers are also required to have boots on the ground to ensure that plants perform as they are supposed to do.
“I don’t want to get into a debate about a lack of willpower, I think this is to do with management at power stations and that is supposed to happen at power stations happens. That’s why there needs to be accountability at the right place in the supply chain.”
De Ruyter reiterated that a number of power station managers would be subject to ‘consequence management’ – with the details of these punishments and managers set to be provided at a later date.
State of the nation address
De Ruyer said that it had entered into an agreement with the City of Cape Town to ensure that there would not be load shedding during president Cyril Ramaphosa’s state of the nation address on Thursday (10 February).
He said that it was impossible to guarantee that there would be no load shedding nationally on Thursday evening, but that Eskom was working to ensure power levels are adequate by this time.
This is not necessarily due to the address but as part of a general return to stability, he said.
Read: Eskom moves to stage 2 load shedding – here is the schedule
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