Despite South Africa’s energy crisis, there will be an end to load shedding

Minister in the Presidency for Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, said that despite obstacles, uncertainties and temporary setbacks, the end of load shedding is on the horizon.

Ramokgopa made these comments during the State of the Nation Address (Sona) debate in Parliament this week.

“A path to achieving a stable and sustainable energy landscape has been fraught with obstacles, uncertainties, and temporary setbacks, and yet, with each passing day we continue to register progress as we chart the path to energy security,” Ramokgopa said.

“The end of load shedding is indeed in sight; the future is bright,” he emphasised.

WHAT IS GOVERNMENT DOING?

Ramokgopa said that government has taken steps with Eskom to address the energy crisis in SA by returning units to service on time or earlier, and bolstering new generation capacity.

“Units 1 to 3 of Kusile power station, which had been out of service since October of 2022, were successfully returned ahead of schedule. As planned, Unit 5 was synchronised to the grid in December 2023, contributing 800MW. The four Kusile units collectively injected 3,200MW of capacity into the grid,” he added

“Medupi power station Unit 4 will return to service this year in September, a year ahead of schedule. Kusile Unit 6 will be synchronised in late November 2024. These units will add 1,600MW to the grid. In addition, Unit 2 of Koeberg will return to service in September 2024, giving us 980MW, following a planned outage. These interventions will collectively add 2,580MW to the grid in 2024. The end of load shedding is indeed within sight.”

Ramokgopa also noted that Eskom has a meticulous maintenance plan for SA’s power stations that will be carried out ahead of the winter months.

“This also means that heading into the winter peak demand period, we can claw back up to 2,000MW by tapering planned maintenance and strengthening available capacity. From March of 2024, we will begin reducing planned maintenance from the current 6,000MW to 5,000MW in April 2024 and to around 3,500MW in May 2024, a threshold that will be sustained during the winter demand period,” he said.