Given the limited options before Eskom to increase supply “the last resort” has been to load shed, Eskom board chairperson Jabu Mabuza said on Monday. “It is not something that is taken lightly, we understand the inconvenience and pain,” he added.
There is “no magic wand” to rid South Africa of the current bout of load-shedding as Eskom faces a myriad of historical, financial and technical problems which have contributed to the current power outages, Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan said in a press briefing on Tuesday.
Eskom is facing a host of problems. The performance of its generation plant remains unpredictable and there has been an increase in unplanned outages — or breakdowns at its power stations — by 13 000 megawatts against a projected 8 000MW. Along with planned maintenance around 17 000MW of capacity is unavailable.There has also been an increase in boiler tube leaks — which are difficult to repair and require the shutdown of generation units to repair, taking days to bring back online.
Eskom must also conserve water reserves at its three pumped storage schemes to enable it to supply power over periods — namely the mornings and evenings.Imports of power from Mozambique have also been hampered, following the cyclone in the country, which typically supplies around 1 158MW of power. Given the limited options before Eskom to increase supply “the last resort” has been to load shed said Mabuza. “It is not something that is taken lightly, we understand the inconvenience and pain,” Mabuza added.
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