No problems with Eskom diesel supply despite KZN floods – Mantshantsha

Despite massive flooding in the Durban area, Eskom has no problem with its diesel supply, spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said.

“There is currently up to stage 8 of load shedding that can be implemented, should the need arise,” he said.

Mantshantsha said the loss of four additional generation units at Matla, Tutuka, Duvha and Arnot power stations at the weekend – exacerbated by the delay in units returning to service at Camden, Matla, Grootvlei and Tutuka power stations – had necessitated load shedding.

“We currently have 5 474MW on planned maintenance, while another 17 018MW of capacity is unavailable due to unplanned breakdowns,” he said.

Energy analyst Chris Yelland said on Twitter it was not renewable energy letting SA down.

“It’s the 22 500MW of the intermittent, unreliable and unpredictable coal-fired power generation fleet and half the nuclear fleet, that is unavailable for service and letting South Africa down,” he said.

“Remember, 80% of electricity in South Africa comes from the coal power stations and more than 50% of these coal power stations were unavailable for service.

“On top of that, 50% of the nuclear power station is out of service as they were busy doing a life extension programme, which meant the power station was only operating at 50% for about 10 months this year.”

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Eskom burned through ‘R250m a day’ in diesel, and still couldn’t keep lights on

Yelland said the demand over the Easter weekend was lower than a normal working week, yet Eskom was unable to meet the demand due to the poor performance of the coal fleet.

Energy analyst Clyde Mallinson said the only problem with renewable energy was that there wasn’t enough of it, in conjunction with enough storage.

“No one has ever claimed solar will produce electricity at night time,” he said.

“Anyone who has tried to reduce Eskom or municipal electricity consumption with photovoltaic will in all likelihood also have installed battery storage. Democratic Alliance shadow minister of mineral resources and energy Kevin Mileham said the biggest challenge was energy insecurity.

“Instead of bringing new-generation capacity online as quickly as possible, Eskom is forced to spend hundreds of millions daily on diesel and gas [open cycle gas turbine] peaking plants, just to mitigate the effects of its own poor maintenance,” said Mileham.