Medupi completion expected in December but risk of outages remain

Construction of the long overdue Medupi power plant, which is set to relieve pressure on Eskom’s existing power stations, was expected to be completed by December this year.

“I am confident that Eskom will deliver the synchronisation on the first unit at Medupi by December this year,” Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown said.

The completion of the multi-billion rand power plant was expected to ease the pressure on the power utility’s ageing power generation fleet, which has contributed to the power utility’s battle to keep the country’s lights on.

Brown was speaking at a joint meeting of parliament’s portfolio committees on energy and public enterprises, during which Eskom briefed the committees on the state of the national grid and challenges of supply.

However, until then the risk of further load shedding could worsen as Eskom battled with power outages caused by its ageing infrastructure, The Mail and Guardian reported.

According to the news agency, Eskom’s acting CEO Collin Matjila said the increased possibility of load shedding “remains a risk we are going to have to live with”.

Speaking at the same joint meeting, Matjila revealed Eskom was compiling revised load shedding schedules to inform customers of potential load shedding.

Meanwhile, Brown along with other committee members expressed concern about the state of the power utility’s ageing power generation fleet.

“It’s a known fact that Eskom has experienced a number of challenges in recent years,” she said.

The power utility had made ongoing appeals to residential and industrial customers to reduce electricity consumption.

However, the power utility had declared six power emergencies since November last year, resulting in load shedding.

“We know there are serious challenges affecting Eskom, and at another level, that are affecting municipalities. We might have strong views on issues, but our immediate concern is that Eskom should be strengthened to respond to its challenges,” Energy Portfolio Committee chairperson Fikile Majola said.