Minister Ramokgopa illuminates progress in national electricity grid, heralding a new era of energy stability.
(The Post News)- Minister Ramokgopa’s briefing electrified the nation, revealing a remarkable 130 days of uninterrupted power supply. This gridify milestone marks a significant stride in South Africa’s energy journey.
Eskom’s generation fleet is performing exceptionally, with excess capacity enabling strategic unit placement on cold reserve. The power utility’s average Energy Availability Factor (EAF) soared to 70% over the past week, a substantial improvement from last year.
The successful implementation of the Generation Recovery Plan has contributed to a R9-billion reduction in open-cycle gas turbine diesel expenditure. This plan has also enabled Eskom to increase planned maintenance, ensuring continuous plant reliability.
The year-to-date EAF has significantly improved, increasing to 63.22% from 55.32% in the same period last year. A sustained EAF improvement has been achieved, with the weekly EAF moving from 57.0% to 67.26% over the past week.
Unplanned outages have decreased, contributing to the EAF improvement. Strategic utilisation of Open-Cycle Gas Turbines (OCTs) has effectively managed electricity demand during peak times.
Diesel consumption has significantly reduced, with expenditure on OCTs 73% lower than the same period last year. Approximately 3,690MW of generating capacity is scheduled to return to service by Monday, 12 August 2024.
Minister Ramokgopa launched the “Save Your Transformers, Save Lives” campaign, urging customers to avoid illegal connections and network overloading. This initiative aims to prevent public safety hazards and extended unplanned power outages, ensuring a stable powerflux for the nation.
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