Eskom’s monster diesel bill to keep the lights on in South Africa
State-owned power utility Eskom has spent R64.78 billion in the last five years on diesel to power its Open Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGTs) to plug the electricity generation gap.
This was revealed by Public Enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan in a recent parliamentary response.
The response shows that as load shedding has intensified, so has the amount dipped in from the state coffers, with diesel expenditure for each financial year being:
- 2020 – R5.8 billion;
- 2021 – R5.75 billion;
- 2022 – R8.6 billion;
- 2023 – R21.25 billion;
- 2024* – R23.38 billion.
Note that 2024’s value is a draft and unaudited.
Eskom’s diesel spend for 2023 was far above regulator Nersa’s capped output for Eskom’s OCGTs, at 1,266 GWh or R8.4 billion, set for the 2023/24 financial year.
According to Gordhan, Eskom’s diesel suppliers have been PetroSA, Astron, Shell, BP and Engen. The minister did not disclose how much each company has been getting.
Eskom only ‘recovered’ R6.5 billion rand of this from Nersa decisions and the Regulatory Clearing Accounts.
“This gap contributes to the need for Government support,” said Gordhan.
According to Nersa, the breakdown of coal-fired power stations has meant that it has had to increase OCGT’s load factor considerably, from 1% to 6%, which has subsequently seen increases in Eskom’s diesel allowance—something that Eskom is known to exceed.
DA public enterprises spokesperson Mimmy Gondwa said burning diesel means Eskom has not turned the corner.
“With this latest revelation, [Electricity] Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa’s claim that Eskom has turned a corner is completely false because burning diesel can never be a permanent solution to the load shedding crisis,” she said.
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