Durban - Energy experts say Eskom is burning more diesel to maintain lower stages of load shedding, but this was necessary to avoid causing more harm to the economy.
Yesterday, the power utility announced that Stage 4 load shedding would be implemented from 4pm yesterday until 5am this morning. Thereafter, Stage 2 load shedding would be implemented until 4pm. It said this pattern would be repeated daily until further notice.
Samantha Graham-Maré, the DA spokesperson on electricity, said reports indicated that Eskom had already spent R12.4 billion of its R27.9bn budget for diesel, four months into the 2023/24 financial year, which ends on March 31, 2024.
Energy expert Clyde Mallinson said Eskom was burning a lot more diesel, but that it was necessary given the power utility’s current predicament.
Mallinson added that the economy had lost millions of rand due to the power cuts.
“The economy can’t take these higher stages of load shedding, and in essence we have to understand that the economy and businesses are more important to be sustained than whether Eskom is burning more diesel and going over their budget. Eskom also does not have enough capacity for the winter months and needs to burn more diesel to make up for the shortfall for energy.”
Mallinson said that due to Eskom’s ageing infrastructure and coal fleet performance, load shedding was unlikely to end soon. “Eskom power stations have aged and unfortunately the problem at the power stations can’t be solved by maintenance and repairs alone. We need new power stations so that Eskom can have more capacity. Eskom’s coal fleet performance has also deteriorated over recent years.”
Professor Lwazi Ngubevana, director of the African Energy Leadership Centre, said that although he agreed that Eskom was burning a lot more diesel, there were a combination of factors that had reduced load-shedding stages.
He said those factors included better performance at some of the power stations, due perhaps to better management, and the lower ambient temperatures in winter led to better unit performance. Ngubevana added that Eskom had also reduced planned maintenance.
“Sustained favourable wind conditions have meant sometimes up to 3GW delivered over relatively prolonged periods by wind Independent Power Producers, meaning another two or so stages of load shedding. A stagnant economy has also meant reduced energy demand.”