While Eskom said load-shedding will be reduced to stage 3 from 5am on Monday and to stage 2 from the same time on Tuesday, it warned that power cuts are likely to increase significantly over the next year.
The beleaguered state-run utility implemented stage 4 load-shedding on Saturday due to a high number of breakdowns at its ageing coal-fired fleet of power stations, while it is also short of diesel required to run auxiliary power generation plants. Eskom has asked the National Treasury for R19.5bn to buy diesel for auxiliary power generation but finance minister Enoch Godongwana has said SA does not have the money.
“Load-shedding is being implemented due to a high number of breakdowns and the requirement to preserve the remaining emergency generation reserves while creating space to replenish the dam levels at the pumped storage schemes,” Eskom said in a statement on Sunday. “Due to the depletion of the budget to acquire diesel for the open-cycle gas turbines, Eskom has been forced to strictly conserve the remainder of the fuel reserves to protect against further unplanned outages.”
SA has faced almost 180 days of rolling blackouts so far in 2022, the worst power cuts on record, mainly due to breakdowns at poorly maintained power plants. Over the weekend, generating units at the Grootvlei and Matimba power stations were taken offline for repairs while delays in returning units to service at the Arnot and Duvha power stations further contributed to the country’s power constraints.
While generating units at the Kriel and Matla power stations have been returned to service, Eskom said about 6,392MW of its overall generating capacity is on planned maintenance, while another 16,318MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns.
Eskom also warned that problems at unit 1 of the Koeberg nuclear power station, coupled with the impact of an October chimney failure that forced three generation units offline at Kusile power plant, will further reduce available generation capacity while “significantly” increasing load-shedding over the next six to 12 months.
“Eskom requests the public to exercise patience and tolerance during this difficult period,” the utility said. “Load-shedding is implemented only as a last resort in view of the shortage of generation capacity and the need to attend to breakdowns.”
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