Eskom pleased with progress

This long-weekend saw Eskom performed even more planned maintenance, surpassing the first phase of the weekend maintenance festival it had performed previously.

Eskom has reported that its maintenance teams worked hard over the long-weekend and were able to perform maintenance on 2 608 MW of generating plant.

They also returned 2 304 MW of generating capacity back to service over this period.

This is an improvement from last weekend’s maintenance festival where technicians carried out planned maintenance on 2 303MW of our generating plant, returning 1 453MW back to service over that period.

The generating units that were taken out for scheduled maintenance this long-weekend included:

q Duvha Unit Two (575 MW);

q Hendrina Unit Six (190 MW);

q Komati Unit Nine (114 MW);

q Kriel Unit Six (475 MW);

q Majuba Unit Six (669 MW);

q Tutuka Unit Four (585MW).

The units that have been returned back online are:

q Duvha Unit Two (575 MW);

q Majuba Unit Six (669 MW);

q Kriel Unit Five (475MW);

qTutuka Unit Four (585MW).

“Going forward, we plan to continue with our maintenance drive in an effort to close in on the backlog that has accumulated over the years due to the “keeping the lights on” commitment.

“We appeal to electricity users once more to continue using electricity sparingly in order to allow us enough room to continue with the requisite maintenance so that in the long run our power stations can perform more efficiently,” said Acting Chief Executive Brian Molefe.

It is reported that Eskom needs a minimum of 3000 MW and maximum of 5000 MW buffer either through supply-side or demand-side options in order to close the maintenance backlog and avoid load shedding.

Eskom will continue to provide regular updates on the status of the power system through all the media platforms.

the risk of load shedding remains.