Page 10 - AfrElec Week 33

AfrElec
NEWS IN BRIEF
AfrElec
POLICY
Eskom warns of load shedding
Rising economic growth in South Africa could trigger power cuts, with Eskom’s fragile generation system unable to respond to increased demand for electricity, Bloomberg reported.
e energy availability of Eskom’s generation eet is supposed to be as high as 80%, but is currently as low as 69%, and even a 0.1% rise in gross domestic product could result in outages, Nelisiwe Magubane, an Eskom board member, said.
e state-owned utility has a mountain of debt and is reliant on government bailouts to remain solvent.
It is also contending with operational issues - most of its power stations are nearing retirement age and haven’t been properly maintained, while the construction of two new plants are running years behind schedule and way over budget.
e country has experienced intermittent power outages - known locally as load shedding - since late 2005, a measure Eskom said was needed to prevent the national grid from collapsing.
Outages have eased over recent months largely due to the poor performance of the economy - gross domestic product slumped an annualised 3.2% in the rst quarter, the biggest contraction in a decade.
PERFORMANCE
Ethiopian Electric Utility
reveals $253m annual
revenue
Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU) has announced a revenue of more than $253mn from the sale of electrical energy last Ethiopian scal year which ended July 7, 2019.
e utility had set a target of over $334mn but collected $253mn, achieving 76.71% of its target.
e Ethiopian Electric Utility was established to engage in the business of distributing and selling electrical energy.
In February this year, EEU announced a $114mn revenue during the rst six months of the Ethiopian calendar started July 8, 2018.
e latest service fee adjustment made by the company has contributed to better income collection, Shiferaw Telila, CEO of EEU, told journalists.
GRID
Niger Delta Power has 4,000MW offline
Niger Delta Power Holding Company has admitted that it currently is unable to connect 4,000 MW of generating capacity to the
national grid.
“NDPHC currently contributes about 37
per cent of installed generation capacity to the national grid. Over 4000MW of this installed capacity is stranded, as our average daily dispatch is 700MW,” he said.
Speaking at the inauguration of the 2x600MVA, 132/33KV substation and associated 132 transmission lines at Abeokuta, Ogun State, Ugbo also said NDPHC has about 10 national independent power plants, NIPP, with a combined nameplate rating of 4,709 MW.
“NDPHC’s contribution to the transmission grid system has transformed the hitherto radial 330Kv/132KV grid into a more robust grid system with the signi cant provision of alternative power ow routes which now serve as redundancies and which has resulted in a more reliable and stable Nigeria grid,” he went on.
Ugbo further explained that between May 2015 and now under the administration of President Buhari, about 30 NIPP transmission projects inherited by the administration have been completed while over 70 distribution projects have also been completed across the 6 geopolitical zones of the country.
GAS-FIRED GENERATION
Energy Minister cautions
against delays in releasing
gas to Karpowership
Ghanaian energy minister John Peter Amewu, has expressed satisfaction with Karpowership’s readiness to meet the 17-day planned schedule to commence power generation from its new location at the Sekondi Naval Base.
e minister, who was speaking during a tour of the Karpowership and other ancillary installations, cautioned contractors who are to ensure rst gas for the Karpowership by September to expedite work to avoid delays.
e minister’s caution follows di culties by one of the contractors, Amandi, to access the Ghana Gas Transmission, Regulatory and Metering Station (TRMS) constructed by ENI due to handing over issues leading to some delays.
Within just ve days, the Karpowership anchored at the Sekondi Naval Base a er arriving from Tema to be powered with gas.
It is already connected to the national grid and expected to start generation of power soon.
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Week 33 21•August•2019