Cape Town - The country’s energy crisis is escalating with 2022 on track to be the worst load shedding year on record as operational issues, manufacturing problems, energy constraints and other issues arise at Eskom.
On Thursday, Eskom also announced that Stage 4 load shedding would be continuing until today, with possible relief expected tomorrow.
Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said: “We currently have 5 209MW on planned maintenance, while another 16 669MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns.
“Eskom teams are working around the clock to return units to service, but in view of the shortage of generation capacity and the need to carry out unplanned maintenance to return units to service, we unfortunately have to implement load shedding as a last resort.”
DA spokesperson for mineral resources and energy Kevin Mileham said: “When President Cyril Ramaphosa presented his Energy Response Plan in July, he announced that power plant maintenance was to be prioritised to ensure that the country derived as much benefit as possible from Eskom’s installed capacity.
“The ongoing challenges at Koeberg Nuclear Power Plant as well as the maintenance problems at some of the coal power stations is testament to a power plant management process that is in crisis.”
The two Koeberg units are critical components of South Africa’s energy structure and when off-line contribute to two stages of load shedding across the country.
Eskom has applied to the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) for an extension of Koeberg’s current operating licence, which expires in July 2024, by another 20 years.
However, concerns remain about safety issues, operational issues and failure to meet critical deadlines needed before this extension can be granted, as well as transparency around all of this.
One such case is the delayed delivery of the last of six steam generators required for unit one of Koeberg.
In a media briefing earlier this week, Eskom COO Jan Oberholzer confirmed that the last steam generator had in fact been dropped in a factory in China a year and a half ago and that it would now only arrive by December.
Independent energy analyst Chris Yelland said that this incident in China showed that Eskom was not ready for the life extension of Koeberg.
However, in the briefing this week, Eskom acting chief nuclear officer Keith Featherstone advised that Koeberg was on track to receive its operational extension by another 20 years.