Eskom power forecast for the week
No blackouts are scheduled for Tuesday (24 March), Eskom said, however, load shedding prognosis remains medium to high “and is dependent on the performance of the power plant”.
“The power grid is stable so far, there are no plans to load shed. However, we expect power to be constrained later in the afternoon as demand for electricity rises,” said spokesman Khulu Phasiwe.
On Saturday, Eskom was forced to implement stage one rolling power cuts, ‘due to a shortage of generation capacity’ as several units were out of service due to planned and unplanned outages.
In recent months, Eskom has battled to keep the lights on since the collapse of one of its coal storage silos, diesel shortages, and maintenance issues.
Because of these constraints, Eskom says it has been forced to explore options for further review of tariff increases for the 2015/16 financial year.
The National Energy Regulator of SA has confirmed Eskom is formalising an application to reopen the multi-year price determination, allowing for a further increase in electricity tariffs.
Two weeks ago, Eskom chief executive Tshediso Matona, finance director Tsholofelo Molefe, group capital executive Dan Morokane, and commercial and technology executive Matshela Koko were asked to step aside as the power utility embarked on a fact-finding inquiry.
In a system status bulletin published on Tuesday, Eskom said that the forecast for tomorrow and the rest of the week indicates that the system will be extremely constrained, meaning that any extra load or faults in the system may necessitate the need to go into load shedding.
“Eskom continues to make progress with its programme of planned maintenance but the
system remains tight. The capacity available to meet demand depends on the number o f
generating units that are unavailable for planned and unplanned outages.”
Eskom supply and demand
- Tuesday (24 March): The capacity available to meet tomorrow’s evening peak demand is 30,920 MW (including open cycle gas turbines) while demand is forecast at 31,137 MW.
- Wednesday (25 March): The capacity available to meet that evening’s peak demand is 30,344 MW (including open cycle gas turbines) while demand is forecast at 31,161 MW.
- Thursday (26 March): The capacity available to meet that evening’s peak demand is 30,159 MW (including open cycle gas turbines) while demand is forecast at 31,021 MW.
- Friday (27 March): The capacity available to meet that evening’s peak demand is 28,927 MW (including open cycle gas turbines) while demand is forecast at 29,794 MW.
- Saturday (28 March): The capacity available to meet that evening’s peak demand is 28,927 MW (including open cycle gas turbines) while demand is forecast at 28,605 MW.
- Sunday (29 March): The capacity available to meet thatevening’s peak demand is 29,131 MW (including open cycle gas turbines) while demand is forecast at 28,998 MW.
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