ESKOM HITS SOUTH AFRICANS WITH STAGE 4

Drastic move blamed on tripped Koeberg unit

AILING power utility Eskom said a tripped unit at its Koeberg power station was the reason it had to unexpectedly implement Stage 4 load shedding yesterday.

The decision to move to Stage 4 came hours after the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria sided with Eskom in a dispute with the National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) over an electricity tariff increase, a decision that could potentially put yet more pressure on electricity consumers.

“Koeberg Unit 1 was disconnected from the grid due to a fault on the turbine section earlier today (Tuesday). The nuclear reactor remains safe. The seawater-circulating water pump was damaged, and it is expected that repairs will take a number of days before the unit can be brought back into operation.

“The loss of the approximately 930MW in Koeberg puts further strain on the generation fleet, necessitating an increase in the stage of load shedding. Unplanned breakdowns or outages were at 12 046MW as at 5.50pm (Tuesday) and planned maintenance outages are at 6 155MW.

“As the ageing fleet is currently constrained, unpredictable and vulnerable, we advise South Africans that the stage of load shedding may change at short notice should there be any unexpected change in the generation system performance. Demand has also risen incrementally since January,” Eskom said in a statement.

Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC Anton Bredell said: “We are concerned that the grid is so unstable and unpredictable. Load shedding has a major impact on the economy, and ultimately the livelihoods of our residents. These unforeseen trips are a major concern ahead of the winter months when demand is expected to increase.”

The legal matter before the high court relates to Eskom having applied for a 18.9% tariff increase for the 2018/2019 financial year, but Nersa had decided to give them an increase of 5.2%.

Judge Jody Kollapen ruled that Nersa’s decision was procedurally unfair, irrational and unreasonable.

The judge found that Nersa had failed to allow Eskom to make representations before the energy regulator, saying the decision had “effectively “deducted billions’ from Eskom’s projected revenue.

“Eskom is granted leave to apply

to Nersa within 60 days of this court order or the final 2018/2019 Regulatory Clearing Account decision, which ever is the later, to make a supplementary tariff determination granting Eskom any additional amounts which it has expended in the 2018/2019 tariff year and to which it would have been entitled had the original tariff determination been made lawfully, in accordance with the principles established by this court’s judgment,” Kollapen said.

Eskom wasted no time in vowing to make a fresh bid to ask Nersa to allow it to implement an electricity tariff increase of 18.9% for the 2018/2019 financial year.

The court agreed with Eskom that Nersa had also failed to properly calculate the costs of coal, including its transportation to the different power stations in the country, using its traditional multi-year pricing determination.

In setting aside Nersa’s decision, Judge Kollapen said Nersa’s treatment of the coal costs and employee costs resulted in the deduction of billions from Eskom’s projected revenue.

He said Nersa’s failure to consult with the power utility had rendered its decisionmaking processes “unfair, irrational and unreasonable.”