Eskom’s gameplan to keep the lights on during the holidays

Eskom will be maximising the benefits of a recently granted sulphur dioxide emission exemption by reviving four units at Kusile Power Station.

With the firing up of Unit 3 this past Saturday, the utility aims to add a critical 3 000 megawatts (MW) to the national grid by December.

Eskom’s load shedding gameplan

The exemption, authorised by Environmental Minister Barbara Creecy and backed by the Air Quality Act and Nkangala municipality, allows Eskom to operate three of Kusile’s units without the standard flue-gas desulphurisation (FGD) chimneys, which were damaged last year.

The Sunday Times reports these FGDs play a crucial role in reducing sulphur dioxide emissions.

Eskom then improvised by constructing temporary stacks that allow for a slight rise in emissions, albeit above the current standards.

Controversy and accountability

While several environmental organisations contested the exemption, Minister Creecy upheld the decision, laying out stringent guidelines for Eskom.

Monthly reports tracking repair progress and documenting the health and environmental impact of the raised emissions must be made public, Creecy mandated.

Daphne Mokwena, Eskom spokesperson, stated that this strategic move will expedite the reduction of load shedding stages.

What this means for load shedding

Mokwena said: “Because we are bypassing the temporary stacks it means we needed to ask for permission from the department to authorise the emission licence, which they have done.

“It means we are now adding that 2 100MW to the grid, which is equivalent to shaving off two stages of load-shedding.”

The exemption, along with other units at Kusile being connected, will allow Eskom to significantly reduce load shedding by at least three stages by the festive season.

READ: Cost of sulphur dioxide emissions from Kusile ‘may be 700 lives a year’

Lights on during December?

Mokwena explained: “By December we would have added an additional 2 880MW, which is almost equivalent to three stages of load shedding, when we synchronise unit five.”

“We were very conservative at our media briefing this week not to say that we will do away with load-shedding by December, but basically if we remove almost 3 000 from the over 14 200MW of breakdowns … it means you are left with around 11 000MW, which is very good because at 12 000 breakdown normally we only implement stage 1. Or even move it to zero … but we don’t want to say that because this is a balancing act issue, because you may have other stations breaking.”

The exemption will contribute an extra 2 100MW, equivalent to removing two stages of load-shedding.

“It’s a balancing act,” Mokwena cautioned, noting the utility is working diligently to ensure that load-shedding does not exceed Stage 4.

While the plans are progressing well, Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said he was “very optimistic” about Kusile and about entirely eliminating load shedding by the festive season.

READ: ‘I eat, pray, live power’: Ramokgopa’s sleepless quest to end SA’s blackouts