Loadshedding remains suspended and diesel savings reach R15.16 billion year-on-year as investments in the Generation Recovery Plan continue to deliver, placing Eskom on track to meet or exceed its March 2025 EAF target of 70%

Friday, 15 November 2024: Loadshedding remains suspended for 233 consecutive days since 26 March 2024. Eskom continues to realise efficiencies from the investments made in the Generation Recovery Plan that have contributed to South Africa’s energy security and a structural improvement in the coal-fired fleet.

The plan has resulted in year-on-year diesel savings of R15.16 billion, approximately 69.9% less than the R21.69 billion spent during the same period last year.

Following Eskom’s report on Monday, 4 November 2024, regarding the incident with Unit 6 at Kriel Power Station, Eskom can confirm that there has been no impact on its ability to meet the country’s electricity demand. Furthermore, Eskom can confirm that the fire damage was not extensive, and the unit will not be off for a prolonged time pending the final assessment.

Over the past week, the average total unplanned outages have dropped to 11 235MW, a notable improvement from 16 422MW recorded during the same period last year—representing a reduction of 5 187MW. This continuous progress in minimising unplanned outages allows Eskom to increase planned maintenance activities and ensures greater generation capacity is available to meet the nation’s electricity needs.

Today’s unplanned outages are at 11 381MW, which is 1 619MW lower than the summer 2024 base case, indicating enhanced operational efficiency in the past week.

Eskom’s EAF was maintained at an average of 61.4% over the past week and 62.8% year-to-date, with top-performing stations — including Kusile, Medupi, and peaking facilities — achieving an average of and above 70% EAF. Four other power stations recorded EAFs above 60%.

With an available generation capacity of 29 157MW and a peak demand forecast of 25 954MW for tonight, Eskom remains on track to meet electricity demand. By Monday evening, an additional 2 540MW is expected to return online.

In August, Eskom shared its Summer Outlook for the period from 1 September 2024 to 31 March 2025, predicting a likely scenario of a loadshedding-free summer due to structural generation improvements. This outlook remains unchanged.

Key Performance Highlights:

Reduction in unplanned outages:

  • The Unplanned Capacity Loss Factor (UCLF) is at 25.3% for the financial year-to-date (1 April 2024 to 14 November 2024), improving from 33.6% in the corresponding period last year.
  • This reduction in UCLF represents a ~8.4% improvement compared to the same period last year.

Ongoing Planned Maintenance:

Ongoing planned maintenance is at 6 971MW, aligning with our summer maintenance strategy to further increase the reliability of the stations in preparation for winter 2025 and beyond.

Sustained Energy Availability Factor (EAF) improvement:

  • The year-to-date (1 April 2024 to 14 November 2024) EAF is at 62.8%, a significant improvement of ~7.3% compared to the same period last year (55.6%).
  • The weekly EAF has improved from 57.0% at the beginning of the financial year to 61.4% from 1 to 14 November 2024, an improvement of 4.4%.
  • This improvement is primarily due to a drop in unplanned outages (UCLF and OCLF) of the generation units.

Continued strategic utilisation of Open-Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGTs):

Our strategic use of peaking stations, including pumped storage and OCGTs, remains key in managing electricity demand during peak times, particularly during evening peaks (17:00 to 22:00).

  • Eskom’s expenditure on OCGTs between 1 April and 14 November 2024 was about R6.54 billion having generated 1 004.45GWh, approximately 69.9% (R15.16 billion) less than the R21.69 billion spent last year over the same period for 3 491.50GWh.
  • The OCGT load factor for 1 April to 14 November 2024 reduced to 5.38 %, compared to last year’s figure of 18.69%.
  • The OCGT load factor for 1 to 14 November 2024 was 4.98%, significantly lower than the 24.23% for the same period last year.
  • Diesel usage remains below the year-to-date budget.

‘Save Your Transformers, Save Lives’ campaign

While loadshedding remains suspended, Eskom continues to face network overloading issues in certain local areas due to illegal connections, vandalism, meter tampering, unauthorised network operations, theft of network equipment, and purchasing electricity from unlicensed vendors.

To prevent public safety hazards and the risk of network overloading, which can lead to load reduction measures and extended unplanned power outages, Eskom strongly urges customers to avoid illegal connections. Such actions can negatively impact the entire local community and result in hefty remedial fines. It is also essential for customers to purchase electricity only from authorised vendors.

Eskom urges the public to help protect the integrity of the power network by reporting any illegal activities to the Eskom Crime Line at 0800 112 722 or via WhatsApp at 081 333 3323.

We will provide an update on Friday, 22 November 2024, or promptly communicate any significant changes as soon as they occur.

With less than ten days remaining until Sunday 24 November 2024, Eskom urges customers to update their pre-paid meters to prevent expiration and loss of electricity. This simple Do-It-Yourself process requires purchasing credit tokens from authorised vendors. Customers will then receive two 20-digit codes to input into their meters for the update.

ENDS

Similar Posts