Cape Town - It was likely to be a cold winter as the risk of load shedding into July remains high, Eskom has warned.
Speaking to the media about the outlook for winter, Eskom chief operating officer Jan Oberholzer said: “We have a risk, and a relatively high risk during the winter period. This is the outlook as we see it currently, but it might change. However, in a nutshell, the risk of load shedding remains.”
He spoke during at a virtual briefing by Eskom’s senior management to provide an update on the utility’s system challenges.
Oberholzer said the public needed to appreciate that the country did not have sufficient capacity as a result of, among other things, a system that was old and had not been maintained the way it should have been. He said this made planned maintenance difficult.
Eskom group chief executive André de Ruyter said it had implemented Stage 2 load shedding due to a shortage of generation capacity owing to delays in returning generators to service, as well as a breakdown of generators.
Since Monday, a generation unit each at Lethabo, Tutuka, Ingula, Drakensberg, Arnot as well as two units each at Hendrina and Matla power stations suffered breakdowns.
Further, delays in returning generators to service at Arnot, Kendal and three units at Tutuka power stations have added to the capacity constraints.
De Ruyter said Eskom expected to return as many of these units to service over the next few days and to rely on the use of emergency generating reserves to limit the stage of load shedding during this period.
At the same time, the City’s routine electricity maintenance in Panorama, Parow, Parow Industria, Durbanville, Woodridge, Wynberg, Ottery, Claremont, Salt River, Somerset West, Gordon’s Bay, Phillipi, Sea Point and Goodwood continues.
Mayco Member for Energy, Beverley van Reenen, said: “It is important to note that the City only stops with routine and planned maintenance work from Stage 3 and above of load shedding.”
She said routine maintenance on City infrastructure was necessary to ensure reliable electricity supply to residents and good management of our public infrastructure.
Van Reenen said the City notified its customers of the planned maintenance through pamphlets, the media and its social media platforms.
“We remind residents that the areas scheduled for maintenance will have intermittent supply interruptions while necessary maintenance to the electricity infrastructure takes place,” she said.
Meanwhile, during a briefing to Parliament’s Standing Committee on Appropriations on Tuesday, the National Treasury said that since 2008, Eskom had been recapitalised by R241 billion, which included R21.8bn for 2022/23.
In 2023/24, another R21bn would be required and for 2024/25 another R22bn.
Absa Bank analyst Peter Worthington said: “We believe that structural reforms in the energy sector will take time to alleviate power shortages; therefore, load shedding is likely to remain a constraint on growth at least until the end of 2023”.