Although the week ahead would be tight, the probability of load shedding was very small, said Eskom’s group executive Steven Lennon.
A coal storage silo at the Majuba power station in Mpumalanga collapsed on 1 November, affecting coal supplies to all six units at the power station forcing Eskom to implement load shedding until 10pm on 2 November.
Currently, four of the six generating units that were impacted by the collapse had been returned to service.
According to Thava Govender, Eskom’s chief power generation officer, the power system was stable with Majuba power station currently generating about 1600MW and four of the six units were available for full load during peak periods.
“The four generating units are operating at 440MW to 550MW capacity each, because of the method of feeding coal into the units,” said
However, Eskom could not guarantee that there would not be any further load shedding.
According to Lennon, the power system was “a lot healthier”, but was now more vulnerable to variations, including extreme weather events.
He, therefore, urged customers to use electricity sparingly.
“The more we can reduce the demand for electricity, the more we can have available to absorb those extreme events.”
Meanwhile, Eskom disputed claims that the use of wet coal at Majuba had caused the silo’s collapse and that the signs of stress at the silo, which were apparent since January, were ignored.
According to the executives, the silo was inspected in September last year and showed no signs of collapse.
A full investigation into the cause of the collapse was underway, but could take between three and six months to complete.
“Until we know the full facts with certainty, it serves no purpose to speculate,” Eskom CEO Tshediso Matona said.
