By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Minister in the presidency responsible for Electricity Kgosienstho Ramokgopa says the Energy Availability Factor at the Arnot Power Station in Middelburg, Mpumalanga has deteriorated to 48%.
Ramokgopa says the power station experienced eight boiler tube leaks and the norm is that they should be experiencing one over a cycle of 12 months.
The minister met with Eskom management and the workers to discuss some of the challenges and seek possible solutions.
“When I was here it was at 54 % and it has deteriorated to 48 %. Although the overall Eskom performance has improved since I have gone to the power stations, for you to resolve the problems, resolve power stations, unit by unit and I’m sure that the contribution of labour, the contribution of management is key to the resolution of these problems including other efforts we are making on the generation capacity.”
In May, Ramokgopa embarked on the first round of visits to the power stations to assess the performance levels and needs of each station.
“We are on track to reducing, significantly, the intensity of load shedding. Of course, we had a period of eight days of no load shedding and then we hit a snag where we had 11 units that were out as a result of boiler tube leaks. Those units are coming back,” said Ramokgopa.
“So, it’s important that we maintain the reliability of these units so that we are able to restore and maintain the credibility of our efforts and the ability of Eskom to resolve this challenge.”
The minister reiterated that Eskom cannot afford to rely on its ageing fleet of coal-powered stations.
“We need sufficient additional generation capacity especially the renewable energy resources because the Eskom fleet alone will not resolve load shedding and secure energy security. That is why we are investing a lot of effort and resources to ensure that we find a solution for the financing and roll-out of transmission.
“So, we need upward of R390 billion. The Eskom balance sheet won’t be able to carry that. We are at an advanced stage, taking a proposal to cabinet to say this is how we think we can tap into the liquidity that exists in the private sector so that we don’t just over-rely on these units that are ageing.
Meanwhile the Energy Regulator has approved six-year negotiated pricing agreements (NPAs) for ferrochrome smelters operated in South Africa by both Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture and Samancor Chrome.
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) issued a statement on November 6 confirming NPAs had been approved for four of Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture’s ferrochrome operations in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and North West, as well as for six of Samancor Chrome’s smelter operations in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and North West.
Eskom submitted the applications to the regulator on May 9 in line with the interim long-term NPA framework approved by Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe in August 2020.
The framework targets large power users with minimum consumption thresholds of 80 GWh and/or load factors greater than 70% and where electricity is a large cost component.
The interim long-term NPA framework aims to incentivise, through discounted tariffs, the retention of operations in strategic sectors that would otherwise be severely curtailed or shut down without discounted rates.
In the past, tariffs have been indexed to the price of the commodity being produced, but it was not immediately clear whether that was the case for the Glencore-Merafe and Samancor Chrome NPAs.
Nersa reported that Eskom will implement separate six-year NPAs for Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture’s Boshoek (130 MVA), Wonderkop (310 MVA), Lion (275 MVA) and Lydenburg (165 MVA) operations.
The Samancor Chrome operations, meanwhile, collectively amount to 1 363 MVA, or projected baseload sales of about 7.6 TWh yearly, and include: Ferrometals (270 MVA), Middelburg Ferrochrome (286 MVA), Tubatse Ferrochrome (245 MVA), Tubatse Alloy (220 MVA), TC Smelters (140 MVA) and Dikwena Chrome (202 MVA).
The NPAs could be implemented one full calendar month after Nersa’s approval and terminate 72 calendar months thereafter.