- South Africa’s state owned power utility, Eskom, is pleased to announce the ongoing suspension of loadshedding, which has been in effect for 93 consecutive days.
- This period of stability is attributed to our dedicated efforts in enhancing the reliability and performance of our coal generation fleet.
“Our operational efficiency continues to exceed expectations, with current unplanned outages still averaging 12 000MW, and today’s recorded at 10 839MW, well below the winter forecast,” the utility said in a statement.
“We remain committed to effectively managing electricity demand during peak times. Our strategic use of peaking stations, including the Open-Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGTs), has been instrumental in meeting the heightened demand, particularly during evening peaks (from 17:00 to 22:00). Notably, our diesel consumption has stayed under the projected figures for this winter and is considerably lower than the previous year’s usage” added Eskom.
The winter forecast, published on 26 April 2024, anticipated a likely scenario of unplanned outages at 15 500MW and load shedding limited to Stage 2 – this remains in force.
Key Performance Highlights:
Reduction in unplanned outages:
- The Unplanned Capacity Loss Factor (UCLF) has seen a decrease to 27.1% for the financial year to date (1 April 2024 to 27 June 2024), improving from 35.1% in the corresponding period last year.
- This reduction in UCLF represents an 8.0% improvement in the current financial year (1 April 2024 to 27 June 2024) as compared to the previous year in the same period.
Planned Maintenance
The ongoing planned maintenance of 5 566MW aligns with our winter maintenance strategy, bolstered by short-term maintenance to ensure continuous plant reliability.
Sustained Energy Availability Factor (EAF) improvement
- The year-to-date (1 April 2024 to 27 June 2024) EAF increased to 61.3%. This is a significant ~7% improvement compared to the same period last year (1 April 2023 to 27 June 2023), where the EAF was 54.3%.
- The weekly EAF has moved from 57.0% at the beginning of the financial year to 63.52% from 24 June to 27 June 2024.
- The EAF improvement is primarily due to a drop in the unplanned outages of the generation units which averaged at 11 793MW during the past 7 days.
Strategic utilisation of Open-Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGTs)
- OCGT usage has remained significantly lower than in the past two years. From 1 April 2024 to 27 June 2024.
- Eskom’s expenditure between 1 April and 27 June on OCGTs was R3.13 billion, generating 453.95GWh—approximately 66% less than the R9.30 billion spent last year for 1 534.79.34GWh.
- The OCGT load factor for 1 April to 27 June 2024 continued to be much less at 6.30% compared to last year’s figure of 21.29% over the same period.
- The OCGT load factor for 1 June to 26 June 2024 was 10.35%, which is lower when compared to last year’s figure of 15.72% over the same period.
- Eskom’s diesel usage remains below its published winter forecast and year-to-date budget.
A total of about 3 650MW of generating capacity is scheduled to return back to service by Monday, 01 July 2024.
Eskom’s projected evening peak demand for today, Friday, 28 June 2024, is 29 892MW.
Mitigating network overload, ensuring public safety and extended unplanned power outages.
With the arrival of colder weather and the consequent increase in electricity demand, Eskom is addressing the recurring challenge of network overloading in certain regions. This issue is largely attributed to illegal connections, vandalism, meter tampering, unauthorised network operations, theft of network equipment and the purchase of electricity from unlicensed vendors/sellers.
To avert potential dangers to public safety and the risk of network overloading—which could lead to load reduction measures and extended unplanned power outages—Eskom strongly encourages customers to moderate their electricity usage during the suspension of loadshedding. It is also imperative that customers verify their electrical connections are lawful and that they procure electricity solely from authorised vendors. Eskom implores the public to play an active role in safeguarding the integrity of the power network by reporting any illegal activities to the Eskom Crime Line at 0800 112 722 or via WhatsApp at 081 333 3323
Eskom will provide an update next Friday 05 July 2024 or promptly communicate any significant changes as soon as they occur.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
Source: Eskom
