Page 11 - AfrElec Week 19 2022
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AfrElec POLICY AfrElec
Eskom boss warns that only
new capacity in South Africa
can prevent load-shedding
SOUTH AFRICA ESKOM CEO André de Ruyter has warned that capacity out on planned maintenance, while
load-shedding (rolling blackouts) is set to con- another 15,943 MW had been lost from the grid
tinue as the state-owned utility struggles with a due to unplanned breakdowns. The country has
6-GW supply gap in South Africa. an installed capacity of 46,000 MW.
His warning comes as Eskom has increased Eskom again rationed electricity on May 10
the number of planned outages so far in 2022. after various generation units were shut down
However, he said that South Africa should for repairs or didn’t return to service as expected.
not start accepting frequent load-shedding “as That means that nationwide load-shedding
the new normal”, and that up to 6 GW of new occurred on seven of the first 10 days in May.
capacity was needed to allow the company to There was 1,054 GWh cut in April, compared
end load-shedding while allowing for adequate with 2,521 GWh in the whole of 2021, which was
maintenance at its ageing coal-fired power a record, according to the state-owned Council
stations. for Scientific and Industrial Research.
De Ruyter told media that Eskom had imple- Eskom faces the closure of about half of its
mented rotational power cuts on 32 days so far coal-fired power plants over the next 15 years,
in 2022, up from 26 in the same period in 2021. meaning that at least 50 GW of new capacity will
The country is heading for a record year of need to be built.
power cuts if station breakdowns continue at The company still has $26bn of debt and is
the same rate as now, particularly at coal-fuelled undergoing a reorganisation. Phillip Dukashe,
plants. an executive in charge of generation, resigned
On May 9, Eskom said it had 3,049 MW of on May 9 after 26 years at the company.
Week 19 12•May•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P11
