Eskom’s use of diesel-fuelled open-cycle gas turbines is only a short-term solution to end the energy crisis, and the power utility should rather use less expensive sources of energy, such as solar and wind, to reduce load-shedding, a new study shows.
The use of these emergency diesel-powered generators is needed to compensate for the loss of capacity due to breakdowns at Eskom’s coal-fired power stations.
The worsening energy crisis and the state of Eskom’s coal-fired power stations, which are poorly maintained and are prone to breakdowns, have had a devastating effect on the power utility’s already parlous finances.
Along with its nearly R400bn debt burden, Eskom had spent R4.14bn on diesel by July last year for the six months since January against a budget of R2bn.
The high cost of using the gas turbines during load-shedding was one of the factors considered by energy regulator Nersa in January when it granted Eskom an 18.65% increase for 2023/2024, even as consumers nationwide contend with the worst power cuts in history.
During June total spend amounted to R1.54bn, against a budget of R700m, resulting in state-owned oil company PetroSA in November 2022 being roped in to provide the power utility with 50-million litres of diesel to keep Eskom’s gas turbines running to avoid a total blackout during higher stages of load-shedding.
Economics and energy advisory group Meridian Economics on Monday released an update to its 2021 energy report on load-shedding and ways to alleviate SA of crisis, which is estimated by the department of mineral resources & energy to cost the economy R1bn a day.
The report finds that the addition of just 5GW of power to SA’s grid from renewable energy sources, combined with doubling the diesel supply, would have reduced load-shedding by 83.5%, without burning more diesel than Eskom did in 2022.
“Despite load-shedding being catastrophically worse in 2022 compared to 2021, 5GW of additional [renewable energy] would have eliminated between 71%-92% of load-shedding, depending on supplementary measures to relieve diesel supply constraints,” the study reads.
The study found that burning large volumes of diesel over the next six months, when required, “is the only means to address the current crisis and is economically rational given that the economic, social and political consequences of load-shedding far outweigh the cost of diesel”.
“This not only directly reduces load-shedding, but also allows for more energy to be stored using the pumped storage during times when there is no load-shedding, thereby increasing the potential for further peaking power.”
As additional capacity is added to Eskom’s grid through the government’s procurement of energy sources from renewable sources, it would reduce the need for use of gas turbines during some hours of the day, thereby reducing costs.
“As additional [renewable energy] capacity is added to the system, the required diesel usage declines rapidly, and at 5GW of RE significant reductions in load-shedding could be achieved by burning the same or less diesel than was actually used in 2022,” the study finds.
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