Eskom confirmed that loadshedding will remain in place for the rest of this week, indicating the state-owned electricity supplier’s prolonged struggle with keeping a stable power grid.
#PowerAlert2
— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) May 22, 2022
Due to the continued shortage of generation capacity, Stage 2 loadshedding will be implemented from 17:00 until 22:00 throughout the week. pic.twitter.com/E40GBxaAjs
Loadshedding to remain at stage 2 this week
In the midst of looming fears of stage 8 loadshedding, an inevitability predicted by independent energy expert Mike Rossouw last week, the power utility revealed, in a statement released on Sunday, that it is still grappling with “the continued shortage of generation capacity.”
To limit the extent of the damage caused by rotational two-to-four-hour long blackouts, Eskom plans to keep loadshedding at stage 2, between 17:00 and 22:00 all week, barring no further breakdowns occurring at vulnerable power stations.
“While there may be instances where loadshedding might need to be implemented outside of these hours, as far as possible Eskom will endeavour to limit the implementation of loadshedding to the evening peak in order to limit the impact of the capacity shortages on the public,” the statement read.
With stage 2 loadshedding in place until the end of this week, Eskom reported that on Sunday, the electricity provider had 3 028MW of energy out on planned maintenance, while another 14 992MW of capacity was unavailable due to breakdowns.
On Friday 20 May 2022, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan revealed that a plan is in place to recruit veteran engineers to mentor and upskill managers at coal-fired power stations.
This, according to IOL, comes on the heels of the departure of Eskom’s group executive for generation, Phillip Dukashe, who resigned after spending more than 26 years at the power utility.
“A skills mentoring programme using highly experienced power station managers has been launched. This team will be deployed to power stations where load losses are particularly severe,” Gordhan said.
The power utility, as things stand, is struggling to produce alternative means to source an additional 4 000MW of energy to feed into the vulnerable power grid.
“Bid Windows 5 and 6, as well as the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme, will, at best, deliver an effective 3 000MW which alone will not create the buffer needed.
“The President’s announcement of the lifting of licensing restrictions on own-generation to 100MW will undoubtedly assist the position. However, red-tape is holding up the development of these projects,” he added.