By The economy of South Africa can now get back on track with consistent power supply which is essential for production. Eskom has passed the 138 days mark without load-shedding with a much improved Energy Availability Factor (EAF).
Though this may be good news for industry, business and the general public, the Minister in the Presidency Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says the country is not out of the woods yet.
Eskom reported on Friday, 09 August 2024, that the suspension of load-shedding remains on-going and has reached 135 days, plus 101 days of constant supply throughout the winter period. This is a confidence booster that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
The parastatal kicked off its current financial year with a good record. According to Eskom, the financial year began in April and there hasn’t been load-shedding since then; an indication that the turn-around strategy is effective.
Ramokgopa says the Eskom leadership had to deal with a number of challenges in order to get things right, including matters of engineering, financing, maleficence and people issues. He says the actions taken were deliberate and well-orchestrated by the Chairperson of the Board Dr Mteto Nyati and the group CEO of Eskom Mr Dan Marokane.
Eskom says the Generation Operational Recovery Plan continues to deliver efficiencies for Eskom, with R9.59 billion reduction in Open-Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGTs) diesel expenditure from 01 April 2024 to 07 August 2024, compared to the same period last year.
With some of the power stations performing well, by far Eskom maintained an average Energy Availability Factor of 68% over the past seven days.
“In the month of July, Eskom achieved an EAF of 67.41%. The last time we achieved this performance was in July 2021.
Over the past seven days, Medupi, Majuba, Matla, Lethabo, Kusile and the peaking stations recorded an EAF greater than 70%. Additionally, four more power stations achieved an EAF above 60%. Notably, five of these stations were part of the priority list in our recovery plan,” said Eskom.
Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa praised the leadership at Eskom for their sterling job in managing to stabilise three other struggling power stations and improving their generation capacity.
“We will tell you when we are out of the woods when we say we have resolved load-shedding, we will tell you at the right time when we are able to substantiate that in numbers,” said Ramokgopa.
