Ramokgopa to intervene at Eskom’s ‘worst-performing power station’

ELECTRICITY Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa will be intervening to resuscitate “Eskom’s worst-performing power station”, which has contributed to the Energy Action Plan only achieving 56 percent of its targets, a year after it was implemented.

Ramokgopa said on Sunday that he would be going to the Tutuka Power Station in Mpumalanga later this month to get an update on how soon it will return to service the generating units that were contributing to the current electricity capacity constraints.

Tutuka has an installed capacity of 3,654MW, comprising six units capable of producing 609MW each, but it is one of Eskom’s worst-performing power stations with an average output of 1,170MW.

At the end of last year, Eskom announced its plans to decommission and repurpose three of its coal-fired power plants, including Tutuka, as part of the utility’s Just Energy Transition strategy to shift towards green energy.

However, Ramokgopa said the power station was still giving Eskom serious challenges, but interventions were under way to address them.

“First is to say that Tutuka is our worst-performing power station. Each pack should be giving us about 560MW but I think it is performing at 11 percent,” Ramokgopa said.

“One of the first actions Mr [Bheki] Nxumalo took when he became the head of generation was to take one of our most seasoned and experienced general managers, Mr Bruce Moyo, is there at Tutuka, and the intention is that there are a few units that we should be returning to service late August or early September.

“In fact, this month we will be going to Tutuka just to get an indication on the exact timelines and how we are doing against those timelines. So first is that Tutuka is not going to be closed, and secondly is that we are going to do everything possible to return those units.”

Ramokgopa said the Energy Action Plan to end load shedding and achieve energy security was progressing well in spite of stumbling blocks along the way.

The plan is anchored on five key pillars such as fixing Eskom and improving the availability of existing supply, and enabling and accelerating private investment in generation capacity.

It also wants to fast-track the procurement of new generation capacity from renewables, gas and battery storage, encourage businesses and households to invest in rooftop solar, and fundamentally transform the electricity sector to achieve long-term energy security.

Without giving much detail, Ramokgopa said eight actions were completed, 20 were on track, 12 were delayed but progressing well, while another eight were off-track and two had not even started.

“The performance of Eskom’s generation fleet is showing sustained improvement, enabling less severe load shedding than expected over the winter period. This is due to a reduction in unplanned losses to less than 16,000MW, from over 18,000MW,” Ramokgopa said.

“Steps have been taken to increase the load factor of OCGTs and ensure that they can be utilised more frequently to curb load shedding. This includes the allocation of additional funding for diesel for the rest of the 2023 financial year and the deployment of an expert team to address logistical challenges with diesel supply to Ankerlig,” he said.

“Since the implementation of regulatory changes, the pipeline of private sector generation projects has increased to over 100 projects representing more than 10GW of new capacity, which will begin to connect to the grid from this year,” Ramogopa said.

“Eskom has put in place mechanisms to buy power from companies that have extra capacity available, through the Standard Offer Programme and Emergency Generation Programme. These programmes have already unlocked close to 400MW in immediately available power, with a further 600MW in the contracting process.”

– BUSINESS REPORT