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What will it take for Eskom to power all of South Africa?
Eskom Medupi Power Station. Image: Eskom.co.za
JOHANNESBURG – With the implementation of the stage two load reduction from 8 am to 10 pm over the weekend, Eskom says it is fixing its act by holding employees accountable and suspending two general managers.
But experts say no administration will alleviate the country’s power supply problem.
The utility company suspended the general managers of the Kendal and Tutuka power plants for poor performance that led to the implementation of load shedding.
The acting directors of Kriel and Duvha were also removed from office.
The South Africans have had to deal with the stage 4 load shedding this week and today they will be experiencing stage 2 power outages.
There has been talk of better maintenance of power plants with an aging fleet, but there are questions about what it will take for Eskom to power all of South Africa.
Energy expert Adil Nchabeleng said Eskom’s capacity was a 25-year problem.
“The only time Eskom will be able to provide enough energy solutions, more than what is required, is when they build new power plants, and the fact that Medupi is not finished will be even more difficult,” said Nchabeleng.
Another expert, Chris Yelland, said that Eskom’s deep level maintenance was not the ultimate solution.
“The most you can hope for when performing this deep level maintenance is to create a retention pattern that prevents a further decrease in the power availability factor from its current very low level,” Yelland said.
Eskom said its board and management had been meeting with Public Business Minister Pravin Gordhan to question the systemic causes of the loss of cargo.
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