Load shedding ‘gone’
INTERIM ESKOM BOSS PAINTS A BRIGHT PICTURE
Load shedding is a thing of the past and something that no longer features in the lingo of Eskom, interim group chief executive officer Matshela Koko said yesterday in Johannesburg.
He was presenting his first quarterly state of the system briefing at the helm since the departure of Brian Molefe.
According to a confident-looking Koko, the power utility will be able to meet any increases in demand for electricity until 2021, due to the operation surplus capacity, which currently average about 5 699mW during peak hour times.
He said energy availability improved from 70.3% at end of quarter three 2016, to 77.3 % for the same period this year, realising an additional 3 103mW to the grid.
“Eskom’s capacity expansion programme delivered more than 1 700mW to the SA grid since August 2015, which includes Ingula and Medupi’s Unit 6,” he said.
The bad news, though, is that municipal debt increased to R10.2 billion at the end of November last year with Mpumalanga, Free State and North West provinces being responsible for the most debt. Debt for those provinces amounted to R7.8 billion.
Koko said the municipalities owing Eskom have been allowed until January 31 to clear arrears.
He said cross-border sales also increased by 25%.
“The plan is to ensure that every household has access to electricity by 2019.”
Koko added that maintenance work on the old power stations will continue.
Commenting on the Tegeta issue, he said the company was pulling out as a service provider, following the former public protector’s State of Capture report.
Also in attendance was Public Enterprise Minister Lynne Brown, who stressed that it was critical for Eskom to recover financial losses. She said the power utility made significant financial gains of R9.3 billion.
Eskom chairperson Ben Ngubane said the parastatal was growing in leaps and bounds.