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Load shedding needed to be implemented to protect and replenish reserves.
Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa. Picture: Nigel Sibanda
Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has refrained from commenting on possible sabotage at Eskom after South Africa experienced renewed electricity outages due to load shedding.
Ramokgopa was speaking in Pretoria on Saturday following Eskom’s decision to implement Stage 3 load shedding.
Eskom announced on Friday that the power cuts would last until Monday morning.
According to the utility, stage 3 was triggered by Unit 2 at the Koeberg nuclear Plant going offline, in addition to two Kusile Power Station units experiencing “sub-optimal” coal operations because of adverse weather.
Ramokgopa disappointed over load shedding
Speaking at a media briefing, Ramokgopa stated he was “exceptionally disappointed” about the recent performance of Eskom’s power stations.
“In the past 30 days or so, we came again on the back of some failures at Lethabo and Matimba and we initiated stages of load shedding,” he remarked.
The minister highlighted that load shedding was again implemented later in February due to issues at the Majuba and Camden power stations.
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He explained that load shedding must be implemented to protect and replenish reserves.
However, Ramokgopa conveyed Eskom’s confidence that electricity would be restored at the start of next week.
“The level of ambition that we have set for ourselves during this window, we have made the point that we’re confident that come Monday, we should be in a position to get out of this current bout of load shedding.”
Watch the briefing below:
He indicated that the intensity of planned maintenance has been moving in the right direction since 2023 when load shedding was at its peak, but conceded that the recent power outages have caused huge setbacks.
“I think the three episodes that we’ve had – the 1st of February, the 22nd of February, and now the 6th of March – have not helped to ensure that we remain on that course. It’s a significant setback.”
Despite these setbacks, he said that it was a positive sign that South Africa was able to implement and suspend load shedding in short periods.
Unplanned losses
Ramokgopa stated that the unplanned capacity loss factor (UCLF) remained a challenge for Eskom.
“In the past three weeks or so, we have seen that we battle to remain below 14 000 megawatts.”
The minister said the UCLF was currently oscillating between 8 500 MW and 11 000 MW.
“It’s an illustration of something that has gone wrong.”
READ MORE: What about future outages? What energy analysts say about the future of load shedding
The minister warned that complacency would likely result in a regression to the high levels of load shedding experienced in the past.
“There are areas we have identified where we have regressed.”
He confirmed that planned maintenance would continue aggressively into winter.
“We will announce the winter outlook in the next two to three weeks.”
Eskom units to return online
Moreover, Eskom CEO Dan Morokane highlighted that approximately 1 500 MW slipped during planned maintenance, failing to return online.
Marokane stated that 3 200 MW had already been returned to the grid, including two units from Kusile, which came back online around 10pm on Friday night.
“This morning further units came thorough to give us a reduction in the unplanned losses which are sitting at about 4 500 MW.”
He added that 750 MW of capacity is expected to come back online on Sunday, and that 2 800 MW, including Koeberg’s unit 2, is expected back online by Monday.
Ramokgopa raises eyebrows over recent load shedding
Ramokgopa also commented that the problems at Eskom’s power stations were “non-technical related issues”.
“Clearly, we have become complacent. So it can’t be normal, it can’t be that we are reversing the gains that we have accumulated over time. I already know what are the candidate power stations that are consistently dropping the ball,” he told eNCA on the sidelines.
The minister stated that “uncomfortable conversations” would need to be had in the boardroom, and not in public, in order to take “real action”.
“I mean if it’s a technical issue, understanding to our engineers, it’s in the nature of these machines, when you have such a big fleet, there will be such challenges. We have generated significant headroom to absorb these failures.”
READ MORE: ‘Short-term pain, long-term gain’ – Eskom explains when load shedding will end
He suggested that recent load shedding could not just be attributed to the performance of units.
“There is something, there is a layer just below there. That’s why we need to ensure that we attend to these issues.”
When asked whether there was sabotage aimed at undermining the work being done at Eskom, Ramokgopa stressed that “it’s a separate conversation that does not belong in public”.
“One thing I will not do is to manufacture excuses so I will not mislead the country. We know what happened at Koeberg.
“We know what happened in Kusile, the two units that went out. We know what happened at Majuba. We know what happened at Camden. We’ll go and address that situation.”
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