Energy – 13 May 2024

ENERGY

• Eskom. Loadshedding remains suspended due to sustained improvement in Generation performance. The notable and consistent improvements in generation performance have enabled the continued suspension of loadshedding, which has not been implemented for 46 days. The suspension of loadshedding is primarily due to the continued, sustained improvement in generation performance, owing to extensive planned maintenance during the summer period and the implementation of the Generation Operational Recovery Plan, which commenced in March 2023. The concerted efforts to address unplanned outages, also known as the Unplanned Capacity Loss Factor (UCLF), have resulted in a further reduction in the UCLF from 11 036MW to 10 474MW week-on-week. This is proof that our generation fleet is gradually becoming more reliable. This commendable performance is better than the winter forecast for this year, which anticipated unplanned outages to range from 14 000MW to 15 500MW. The planned maintenance of 3 378MW is consistent with the amount of maintenance performed in winter in previous years. (Source)

• Eskom is not playing any political games by suspending load-shedding in the build-up to South Africa’s national elections at the end of May. This is feedback from the utility’s chairman, Mteto Nyati, who told 702 that it is frustrating for the company and board to be questioned regarding its intentions in ending load-shedding. Eskom has managed to avoid plunging the country into rolling blackouts for over a month now, thanks to a decline in demand for its electricity and the performance of its plants stabilising. Thus, many South Africans remain sceptical about the intentions behind the absence of load-shedding and whether it is sustainable or if Eskom is running its plants hard and burning diesel to keep the lights on ahead of the elections. Many assume this would be to help the ANC remain in power post-election. But Nyati flatly dismissed these sceptics. “This is a painful thing we are experiencing as a board, with it being claimed that we are driving things for a certain political party when we, as individuals, are highly skilled and competent,” he said. Nyati explained that the country’s respite from load-shedding can be attributed to the skills of Eskom’s board and the hard work its management team and employees have put in. He said the lack of load-shedding has resulted from its maintenance strategy, where it took specific generation units offline to fix. This strategy, he said, is starting to produce results. (Source) 

• Eskom in its latest weekly generation system update expects the energy availability factor (EAF) to improve slightly on a weekly basis to an average of 63.1%, which would be its highest level since August 2022 and compares to an EAF of 51.9% around the same week a year ago. Eskom expects the EAF to remain above 60% for the second straight week. In its latest weekly generation system update, the power utility reported that it expects the EAF to improve to a weekly average of 63.1%, up slightly from 62.1% in the previous week.