POWER TO THE PEOPLE
The current situation is due to a combination of a few important events and circumstances, including improvement in Eskom’s generation capacity, says power and energy expert Vally Padayachee, who’s a former executive manager of Eskom and a former senior executive of City Power Johannesburg.
“Demand has been low because the weather has remained warm and increased rooop solar photovoltaic [PV] installation helps,” he says.
PV, which is being installed by more and more homes and businesses, is providing between MW and MW of power to the grid, compared to the MW it provided two years ago.
Another key factor is the open cycle gas turbine generation (OCGT) at the Ankerlig and Gourikwa power stations.
OCGT uses diesel and a form of natural gas to rotate turbines which in turn feed an electrical generator which generates electrons. A transmission network then transports electricity in bulk to load centres throughout the country.
“If we weren’t using OCGT now we would have loadshedding,” Padayachee says.
Energy analyst Chris Yelland says the recent reprieve is also thanks to fewer unplanned breakdowns of Eskom’s coal fleet. Maintenance is being done more effectively – and there’s also more budget available to do it.
“One of the big problems when [former Eskom CEO] André de Ruyter was around was there was no money available for maintenance,” he says.