Power utility Eskom is set to receive an additional 1,000MW of gas-fired energy from Mozambique as part of electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa’s plan to alleviate SA’s energy woes.
The additional supply of power will enable the power utility to reduce load-shedding by one stage. Eskom supplies 90% of the country’s electricity but its poorly maintained coal-fired power stations often result in the entity implementing intermittent stages of load-shedding at short notice.
The initial 80MW-100MW of power, which will be sourced from Mozambique’s gas rich Cabo Delagado region, is available immediately to be plugged into the local grid.
This will gradually increase to 600MW within the next six months after the conclusion of power purchase agreements between Eskom and that country’s power utility, Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM), according to Ramokgopa.
“One hundred megawatt is available now and we are able to conclude the technical discussions on tariffs and length of period [of the agreement] and we are able to get the benefit of those megawatts immediately,” he told Business Day on Monday after a meeting with Mozambique’s minister of mineral resources and energy, Carlos Zacarias.
The project will be spearheaded by an undisclosed mining company who will also be carrying the costs of the project. But in order for the private transaction to take effect it requires policy issues from the government, Ramokgopa explained.
“There are issues that the private off-taker [mining company] is placing on Eskom ... for us the interest is not about the off-taker but it's about the additional 1,000MW that is going to be added to the grid,” Ramokgopa said.
“We [the government] don't have an obligation to because they [mining house] have signed a contract to import into the country that which was provided to them but is now available for everyone and will be on the grid.”
The agreement between SA and Mozambique comes as SA recently experienced one of its worst load-shedding bouts, with unplanned breakdowns now frequently topping 16,000MW, compelling the power utility to implement higher stages of load-shedding at short notice.
The deteriorating grid has sparked fears that Eskom may have to implement stages of load-shedding higher than stage 6, where 6,000MW is removed from the grid and households and businesses experience up to 10 hours of power outages in a 24-hour cycle.
However, over the past week Eskom has been able to provide relief for households after it reached an energy availability factor (EAF) of 60%, a level last seen in September 2022, meaning it has been able to achieve lower levels of load-shedding.
Ramokgopa previously attributed the high EAF — the amount of energy available compared to installed capacity — due to the reduction in unplanned loss to less than 16,000MW from 18,000MW.
Ramokgopa said EAF has been attributed to less than anticipated energy demand which has averaged less than 29,000MW compared to the about 30,000MW projected in the first week of June, and a reduction in planned maintenance to about 2,500MW and winter weather conditions in the coastal areas meant that generation available from wind power has increased.
maekot@businesslive.co.za
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