Eskom will do all it can to prevent blackouts even though generation maintenance will be conducted in winter. In addition the South African government will intervene to ensure progress in the build programme of South Africa’s power stations following strikes at two powers station, namely Medupi and Kusile.
This was revealed to the media in Pretoria today, 22 April 2013.
At a media briefing on the state of the system today Eskom said it will conduct generation maintenance during the winter period with at least nine generation units expected to be maintained between April and August. The power utility usually reduces maintenance to a minimum in winter.
Additionally there was sufficient capacity to meet the demand most of the day with concern being raised during the peak hours of between 5 pm and 9 pm. Asked about the risk of a blackout, Eskom CEO, Brian Dames, said the utility will not put the country at the risk of a blackout.
“What we experienced in 2008 is different to a blackout. A blackout means that electricity is out for an extended period of time and for us that is something that we would not want to get close to. We will take whatever measures,” he said, adding that the utility would dump the load if it had to, to protect the country.”
There had been no load shedding since the interrupted power supplies of 2008. “We have very clear contingency measures as to how we would recover from such a situation [that of a blackout],” he said, adding that the last time a blackout was experienced was in the 60s.
Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) Minister Malusi Gigaba said all steps to prevent load shedding were being taken. “We will do all whatever we can to keep the lights on but this is not the sole responsibility of Eskom, we need a behavioural change, everyone must play their role,” said Gigaba.
The power system has been particularly tight and planned maintenance this year was impacted upon the failure of a transmission line from Mozambique due to flooding that reduced imports from Cahora Bassa and the unplanned outage of Koeberg Unit 1 among others.
The National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) recent determination of the Multi-Year Price Determination (MYPD3) added a challenge to managing a tight system by reducing Eskom’s ability to procure additional demand and supply side levers.
Nersa granted Eskom an 8% tariff increase annually over a period of five years instead of the original total 16% hike it had asked for.
Gigaba said it was necessary to embark on a “rigorous study” of what the company needs to do in light of the decision. In a few weeks’ time the full implication of the decision will be presented to the minister by a joint DPE and Eskom team. It is expected to address issues of the price of coal among others.
“Whilst Nersa’s decision on Eskom’s third multi-year price determination application (MYPD3) is welcomed, the implications of the lower tariff and revenue approved on Eskom’s operations and overall business sustainability are currently being investigated.
“Nersa’s decision on tariffs is fair on customers but difficult on Eskom,” said Gigaba
Dames said that an Energy Conservation Scheme or similar measures is needed as a safety net. The utility said Dames had opted for a voluntary energy scheme with its customers with some saving over 10% of electricity. “Customers can adapt but we believe we should have a mandatory one as a safety net,” said Dames.
On whether there should be a mandatory conservation scheme, DPE is in talks with the Department of Energy. “Given the Nersa decision it is necessary to assist Eskom, discussions are taking place. It would be premature to say which customers would be affected and when it would be appropriate to introduce it,” added Gigaba.
Also today Gigaba said the construction of the coal-fired Medupi power plant in Limpopo has seen several strikes by workers at the plant. The plant is expected to generate first power in December this year, after having already been pushed back from a 2012 target.
Earlier this year, power parastatal Eskom temporarily closed the station following protest action.
Eskom’s build programme, which began in 2005, is expected to be completed in 2019. The R340 billion expansion programme represents immense job creation potential that would be unearthed in the building of new plants.
Medupi will have a total at 4 788 MW installed capacity and will ease the pressure on the country’s power grid. The last unit of the plant is scheduled for commissioning by 2015, while the planned operational life of the station is 50 years.
There has also been strike action at Eskom’s Kusile coal-fired power station (which is supposed to start up next year) in Mpumalanga. “We are treating the whole build programme as a priority. All eyes are on ensuring first delivery and so whether there might be a strike at Kusile, we have taken steps to heighten our management of this project.
“We are in continuous discussions with a number of players as we had announced on 11 April. We asked the board to establish a subcommittee; we had also taken steps to ensure that executives visit Medupi at least once a week to engage,” Gigaba said at an Eskom media briefing.
The minister had visited the Medupi plant on 11 April.
“I don’t think any of the stakeholders will be allowed to delay, hold-back or even worse, reverse progress which has been made. We will make the progress we need to make, we will intervene as we have to,” Gigaba said.
The minister appealed to the public to play their part in ensuring that the lights are kept on.
The improvement of Eskom’s maintenance practices was a step in the right direction and would go a long way in reducing the maintenance backlog, which at the end of March 2013, was at 23 units from 36 units in January 2012.
At Monday’s briefing, the power utility said that this winter will be different in that generation maintenance will be done and not deferred. Usually maintenance is reduced to a minimum over the winter months. The utility said planned maintenance could not be deferred as power stations were ageing and sustained high levels of planned maintenance are needed to ensure reliable performance.
“The undertaking of this planned maintenance will thus result in an even more delicate power system,” said Gigaba.
Eskom Chief Executive Officer Brian Dames said the utility had “really focused” on labour issues.
“We have dealt substantially with issues. We have received strong support from labour,” said Dames.
News courtesy of SAnews.gov.za
(edited)
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