Eskom sheds light on load shedding

South Africa’s electricity supplier, Eskom, held a briefing on the state of the system at Megawatt Park in Sunninghill on 15 January.

New Chief Executive Officer at Eskom, Tshediso Matona, explained the different challenges currently being faced by the company, including the main cause of load shedding, which he cited as deferring of maintenance since 2009.

“We know what the problem is,” Matona continued. “We also know how to solve the situation we – as Eskom and the country – have found ourselves in.”

Matona likened the constraints on the electricity grid to that of a motor vehicle running on a reserve tank. “We have now almost exhausted the reserve, making the system vulnerable.

“And exactly like a car, if it is not maintained regularly, it will fail to transport you.”

He continued to state that it was a conscious decision not to implement load shedding during the festive season, but now that businesses are opening again, the demand for electricity has once again placed strain on the utility’s power generators.

Matona elaborated on a maintenance plan which will be implemented, but it will require more rotational load shedding, stating that daily load shedding will take place at least until April. He felt that this will be a short-term pain necessary to secure electricity supplies in the long run.

“It will take just as long to solve the problem as it did to create it,” said Matona.

Other than deferred maintenance, decreased sales, debt and inadequate tariffs were also to blame for the utility’s inability to supply efficient and secure electricity. “Buying diesel to fire up the power stations also put our financial health under distress.”

He continued to say that Eskom, as a 91-year-old company “which runs machines”, has always taken pride in their maintenance practices. “Maintenance became a religion at Eskom,” Matona stated further. “One that we have not stayed faithful to in recent years.

“The breakdown of our units and plants is embarrassing. This problem has accumulated over time and cannot be reversed overnight.”

He continued to state that the utility needs 5 000 mega Watts in the reserve in order to keep the lights on without referring maintenance, a feat that looks even more difficult to accomplish, seeing that the Koeberg power plant will be shutting down for scheduled maintenance in February. This will take another 900 mega Watts of power from the national power grid.

“We have decided to do the right thing and implement the necessary maintenance, with the sad consequence that the country might be exposed to load shedding.

“Either we continue to do things like we always have and things can keep going wrong, or we can do the right thing.”

See the full state of the system presentation here;
Eskom system status presentation from Matthew Le Cordeur