By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
State owned power utility Eskom says that it will move to a new rotational schedule between stage 5 and stage 6 load shedding until further notice.
The group said that the grid remains under severe strain, but some units have returned to service, including Koeberg unit 1, which was synchronised to the grid late on Sunday (16 April).
Stage 6 load shedding will continue to be implemented until 05h00 on Tuesday (18 April), followed by stage 5 load shedding until 16h00. Stage 6 load shedding will return for the evening between 16h00 and 05h00 again.
This pattern will repeat until further notice, Eskom said.
Breakdowns are currently at 17,325MW of generating capacity while planned maintenance is at 5,457MW.
Over the past 24 hours a generation unit each at Camden, Koeberg and Medupi Power Stations were returned to service.
However, two generating units at Kriel were taken offline for repairs during the same period.
The delays in returning units to service at Kendal, Kriel, Medupi and Tutuka have contributed to the capacity constraints, the group said.
As South Africa continues to experience load shedding at high levels – and with the threat of worse to come – those tasked with resolving the crisis are not on the same page, the Bureau for Economic Research (BER) says.
This has led to some incoherence between ministers, standing policy and potential solutions to the crisis – and is something many experts warned would happen when the president added yet another minister into the mix.
South Africa has run out of time to bring actionable solutions to the energy crisis, with winter months – pushing up demand – fast approaching and Eskom unable to provide even 24,000MW of power with consistency.
Instead of having a solid plan of action in place, those in charge of dealing with the crisis are still umming and ahing over how to even start addressing the problem, while calling for sharp policy shifts from plans that have been in place for years.
The old adage of “too many cooks in the kitchen” is ringing true in South Africa, as the country now has three – even up to five – ministers that now govern or have some say in the energy sector and embattled power utility Eskom in particular.
Mineral Resources and Energy minister Gwede Mantashe is in charge of the energy portfolio in general, and has control over mining, coal and diesel policy, which is vital to Eskom’s operations.
Public Enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan is in charge of select state companies, including Eskom, and oversees the operational and administrative processes of these groups
The latest minister in the pool is the Electricity minister, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, whose task is to oversee and resolve the load shedding crisis. He has described his role as a portfolio manager in which Eskom and the ‘energy action plan’ is the main focus.
On the sidelines – though no less influential – is Forestry, Fisheries and Environment minister Barbara Creecy, and head of National Treasury, Enoch Godongwana.
While Creecy is not directly involved with Eskom, her portfolio is a vital checkpoint in the power utility’s operations. Treasury, meanwhile, holds the keys to vital funding that Eskom often needs to keep the lights on.
According to the BER, the return of severe load-shedding has coincided with these key ministers, tasked with resolving the power crisis, “not singing from the same hymn sheet” on Eskom.
“This incoherence is a predictable outcome of too many ministers being tasked with finding solutions for arguably South Africa’s biggest crisis,” it said.
The City of Cape Town will invest R1.2 billion into a solar PV and battery storage project, which should produce 60MW of renewable energy – potentially shielding the city from one stage of load shedding.
The city is investing in the Paardevlei Ground-mounted Solar Photovoltaic and Battery Energy Storage System Project near Somerset West on 400 hectares of land owned by the city.
The feasibility study for the Paardevlei plant will be complete by the end of 2023, with full commissioning of the plant estimated by August 2026. The plant is envisaged for the portion of Paardevlei that is not developable for human settlements purposes.
The project will also receive international support from the C40 Cities Finance Facility (CFF), which offers technical and financial support in green energy projects aiming to achieve a just energy transition.
Overall, the city will spend R2.3 billion in the next three years to end load shedding.
For access to other load shedding schedules, Eskom has made them available on loadshedding.eskom.co.za.
Smartphone users can also download the app EskomSePush to receive push notifications when load shedding is implemented, as well as the times the area you are in will be off.