OPEN GAS CYCLE TURBINES Between a rock and a hard place

The use of Eskom’s two open cycle gas turbine (OCGT) power stations on the east and south coast of SA is the best indicator of the utility’s fall from the top in the pecking order of the world’s best electricity utilities in the past two decades to the bottom.

Whereas Eskom was feted by the Financial Times in 2004 as the world’s best stateowned electricity generator of the most reliable and cheapest power, by 2008 it was already struggling to meet demand.

In 2015 it is struggling to keep the lights on, despite burning billions of rand in cash.

Able to produce a combined 2 084 MW of power from diesel within minutes of starting Tsholofelo Molefe Cost of OCGTs must be weighed against cost of blackouts