Eskom has failed to give Parliament a concrete forecast of when it will be able to end load shedding completely.
The struggling power utility appeared before the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) yesterday to provide an update on the progress made so far to implementing the 23 recommendations that Parliament made following an oversight visit early last year.
After a detailed presentation by outgoing Eskom CEO André de Ruyter, Scopa chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa remained dissatisfied that the utility’s recovery plan still fell short of pronouncing the end of crippling power cuts.
Hlengwa said that if Eskom did not have tangible targets and milestones to end load shedding, this could possibly place the whole energy policy in uncertainty and could threaten economic activity and jobs.
“I think the one question that needs to be answered, after all is said and done, is for Eskom to tell us, sharp like a bullet, when – in your estimation – will load shedding end,” Hlengwa said.
“If we do not have the timeline, it makes holding you accountable very difficult. We have to hold you to account to your own commitments.
“This thing cannot be open-ended because what happens is that some people pull out estimates from the sky out of their pockets (and say) load shedding will be a thing of the past in 16 or 18 months, without giving us substantively what informs that 18 months.
“So as I was listening I was hoping that the logical conclusion of everything you have said is that all these problems, this national crisis, by our own estimation on the basis of the plans you have will end when?”
Rotational power cuts have become a matter of life and death in South Africa as Eskom has implemented the longest continuous load shedding on record as the power utility is short of anything between 4 000MW and 6 000MW additional generation capacity.
Over the weekend, Eskom said the recovery of its coal fleet would not be achieved within a short term, and that it would take at least two years to improve the energy availability factor (EAF) from the current 58% to 70%.
The utility said the journey of the turnaround would see a stretch target EAF being driven toward 60% EAF by March 31, 2023, a mere 10 weeks away, then 65% EAF by March 31, 2024 and 70% by March 31, 2025.
In reply to Hlengwa yesterday, De Ruyter said the challenge was that Eskom’s plan relied heavily on recovering the Tutuka power station, which is characterised by criminality and an unacceptably low EAF of 15% to 17%.
De Ruyter also casually pushed the blame for lack of additional generation capacity away from Eskom and put it squarely at the door of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy and the SA National Energy Regulator.
“I make any forecast about load shedding with great trepidation because it is, to a very large extent, out of Eskom’s hands,” De Ruyter said.
“It should be recognised that since the responsibility for the procurement of additional generation capacity was placed in the hands of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy and the Independent Power Producers office, Eskom can no longer be regarded as the supplier of the last resort.
“We are going through a stage in our electricity industry where additional capacity is required. Now that the cap on embedded generation has been lifted, of course anyone can add new capacity. But before the cap was lifted from 1MW, all new capacity had to obtain Section 34 for the approval in terms of the Electricity Regulation Act from the minister of mineral resources and energy.”
The ongoing power cuts and uncertainty of stable power supply are having a severe and disastrous impact on businesses across South Africa.
In the automotive retail sector, National Automobile Dealers’ Association chairperson Mark Dommisse said yesterday that load shedding was putting a great deal of extra stress on vehicle retailing and servicing.
Dommisse said this was also affecting the viability of dealerships as they were forced to spend large amounts of money to install alternative energy sources as well as fuel for generators.
“If load shedding persists at varying stages of severity, as has been predicted for at least the next 24 months, dealerships that have not installed generators or solar back-up will experience delays in completing vehicle purchases and financing, services and repairs,” he said.
“Back-up solutions, which most dealers are taking or will be forced to take, mean a substantial amount of unbudgeted investment and, in the case of generators, significant ongoing fuel and maintenance costs. Unfortunately, these costs will, at some stage, need to be passed onto the already cash-strapped consumer while also negatively affecting a dealership’s bottom line.”
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