Eskom says a summer of no load shedding is possible. Picture: Itumeleng English/IndependentNewspapers
Eskom’s leadership is proud of the work that it's doing in turning the company around and believes that there will be no load shedding this summer.
Eskom has provided its summer outlook, which looks good, indicating that South Africa may not see any load shedding heading into the warmer season.
Remarkably, Eskom has managed to keep the lights on throughout winter. The country last experienced load shedding more than 150 days ago.
The state utility said that South Africa has had around five months without load shedding and this was during our winter period where the country uses more energy.
Eskom said that its Generation Operational Recovery Plan, which commenced in March 2023, continued to enhance efficiencies for the company and delivered a structural shift in fleet performance.
“Based on the improved generation performance, the base case scenario indicated that there will be no load shedding if unplanned outages stay at 13,000MW or below,” Eskom said.
Eskom said that this year’s Summer Outlook base case has been revised downwards by 1,500MW from the previous Summer Outlook.
“For a scenario where unplanned outages rise to 14,000MW, Stage 1 load shedding could be implemented. The unlikely scenario of unplanned outages at 15,000MW will at worst result in Stage 2 load shedding,” Eskom explained.
“The trend in the performance of the fleet has reduced both the base case unplanned capacity assumption, and the possible intensity in the event that load shedding is needed,” the utility added.
The SOE is also planning to add approximately 2,500MW of generation capacity by January 2025 through its recovery plans.
“Koeberg Nuclear Power Station Unit 2 is expected to return to service from a long-term outage in December 2024, bringing 930MW to the grid”.
“Kusile Unit 6 will be synchronised for the first time into the grid in December 2024, adding 800MW of capacity. The return of Medupi Unit 4 from an extended outage will add another 800MW before the financial year-end,” Eskom said.
Eskom’s success has also had a knock-on effect on the economy and there is a potential 2% growth for the economy due to Eskom’s performance in the 2025 financial year.
Dan Marokane, Eskom’s Group Chief Executive said that Eskom has been able to save over R10 billion that would have been spent on diesel.
“This outcome has led to predictions suggesting ongoing performance can contribute to potential growth in the economy of around 2%,” Marokane explained.
“The winter performance demonstrates what this company is capable of as we undertake our further strategic initiatives and re-affirms Eskom as worthy of further future investment to serve South Africa and drive economic growth.
“I would like to express gratitude to the Eskom employees for their hard work and dedication in moving Eskom towards operational sustainability,” Marokane said.
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