Eskom's Kusile Power Station in Mpumalanga. Picture: Eskom
The return to service of two Kusile power station units is good news for load shedding but is not the long-term solution.
Energy expert Chris Yelland said: “They have put in place a temporary solution which bypasses the normal pollution control Act.
“While this temporary solution is underway, the pollution these units are returning is way beyond the legal limit,” he said.
The pollution causes health problems that could lead to premature death and various respiratory diseases.
“They can only operate this because the department of forestry, fisheries and the environment has given them a temporary exemption from the law.
“In due course, they have to shut down the units to do the permanent solution, which will reconnect the pollution control equipment so that they can operate within the law,” he said.
On Monday, Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena announced Kusile unit one was now on load.
“The unit is returned to service a month and a half ahead of the original schedule and adds 800 megawatts (MW) into the grid,” she said. “This is after Kusile unit three was returned to service on 30 September and consistently delivered 800MW.
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“The two units add 1 600MW into the grid, improving the available generation capacity.”
Mokwena said this signified that Eskom was on the right path to reducing and, ultimately, ending, load shedding.
Yelland said while South Africans should be pleased that Eskom was bringing these units back into service ahead of time, it should be remembered that this was not new generation capacity.
“This is the return to service of units that broke down a year ago.
“They were in service, and then they broke down due to a failure of the chimneys.”
Yelland said the units should have never broken down.
However, “the return to service will help reduce the severity of both intensity and level of load shedding”, he said. “It is helpful and we need to be grateful for that, even if it is small mercy.”
Yelland said when Eskom had to shut down the units in the future, the country would have increased levels of load shedding again.
ALSO READ: Eskom on track to end load shedding with another Kusile unit now online
He also said South Africa was not benefitting from the whole 800MW from each unit.
“Ten percent of the output is used for powering equipment inside the power station itself,” he said. “The net output that is put in the grid for our use is not 800MW, it’s less, and only if that generator has 100% availability.”
Yelland said the generators had “never in history” generated 100% availability.
“We have to be careful so that we don’t get overexcited, but we are happy, and it will generate power in the grid and make a difference to load shedding,” he said.
Energy expert Clyde Mallinson said Eskom’s announcement seemed in contradiction to the most recent 12-month forecast.
Mallinson said in Eskom’s last 12-month forecast, it had increased the expected amount of unplanned maintenance from 13 000MW to 16 000MW.
“They are currently running at about 13 000MW.
“What do they know that the rest of us don’t? And are they expecting high levels of unplanned maintenance, or what?” he asked.
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AfriForum’s local government affairs manager Morné Mostert said any relief was good, but this was not going to be the solution in the future.
The solution was to decentralise the energy sector so more people, companies and communities could be power generators.
“Unfortunately, this is a slow process,” he said.
“The state’s ability to consistently provide this service is deteriorating at a rapid rate.”
The mismanagement of Eskom had caused a lot of damage to the economy and it would have to bear the brunt of this damage for years to come.
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