Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa stated on Monday that Eskom’s Energy Availability Factor (EAF) has breached the 70%, while just over R53.4 million was spent on burning diesel to power the Open Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGT) last week.
Eskom has consistently defended it’s use of OCTG’s, saying it was only being used during morning and evening peaks to meet high electricity demand when it is necessary.
The power utility says South Africa is currently in a load shedding free environment, not because they are burning diesel to keep the lights on, but because of their extensive maintenance programme and success of their Generation Operational Recovery Plan, which was initiated in March last year.
According to Ramokgopa, who spoke during a media briefing on Monday, the EAF has breached the 70% mark and is currently tracking at 70.78%. This is the first time the EAF has breached 70% since August 2021.
For the month-to-date, the EAF is at 64,34% and year-to-date (YTD) the EAF has reached 59,92%.
Load shedding has been suspended for 47 consecutive days during which time the OCGT usage has been lower than the same time as last year. Ramokgopa said between May 5 to 11, OCGTs were in use for just four days, with just over R53 million spent on diesel on those four days.
On Monday, R23.5 million was spent on diesel to power the OCTGs, R11.9 million was spent on Tuesday and Wednesday, and R6.4 million was spent on Thursday.
Eskom said that South Africa has been without load shedding due to the utility having sufficient generation capacity from a more reliable generation fleet and has denied reports in the Mail and Guardian that it was overusing its diesel-burning OCGTs.
In April this year, Eskom spent R1.1 billion on OCGTs, producing 167.8 Gigawatt hours (GWh).
This was about 60% less than April 2023, when a staggering R3.1 billion was spent to produce 470.22GWh, the utility said.
Ramokgopa said that the OCGT load factor for April 2024 decreased significantly to 6.8% compared to last year’s figure of 19.13%.
Eskom said that its diesel budget from May to June was R5.8 billion, and only R1.16bn had been spent as of May 9, 2024, or 19.7% of the total budget.
Generation performance
The minister said that consistently good performance has come from the Kusile, Lethabo, Majuba, Matla and Medupi power stations, and these stations have helped contribute to the EAF trend.
Eskom noted that Medupi and Lethabo, specifically, have achieved a YTD EAF greater than 70% (peaking at 87.6%,) by the end of March 2024.
In terms of stations showing an improved trajectory, the minister said that the EAF has been assisted by improving performance from the Arnot, Camden, Hendrina and Grootvlei power plants.
He said suspension of load shedding is driven by an improvement in coal fleet performance, supported by solar during the day.
On Friday, Eskom said in a statement that unplanned outages have reduced by 4,400MW since April 26, 2024, due to extensive maintenance.
“Eskom’s outlook for the winter period of 2024 states it will continue to strategically utilise its peaking stations, including OCGTs – these will be dispatched during morning and evening peaks to meet high electricity demand, when necessary,” Eskom said.
‘End of load shedding is in sight’
On Monday, President Cyril Ramaphosa praised the Energy Action Plan and said that the end to load shedding is in sight.
“It is too early to say that load shedding has been brought to an end. However, the sustained improvement in the performance of Eskom’s power stations, as well as the new generation capacity we have added to our energy system gives us hope that the end of load shedding is in sight,” Ramaphosa said in his weekly newsletter.
“A renewed focus by Eskom on maintenance and the return to service of several units is now showing results. Losses due to unplanned outages have reduced by nine percent between April 2023 and March 2024, adding the equivalent of 4,400MW of capacity to our national grid,” he added.
“Better maintained and more reliable power stations have increased the country’s EAF. The EAF has been above 60% since April, compared to 53% over the same period last year.”
Ramaphosa also praised Eskom’s leadership team and highlighted the work done by the power station general managers and their teams.
“The leadership, management and staff of Eskom, particularly the power station general managers and their teams, are to be commended for their efforts. The work of the National Energy Crisis Committee, which coordinates the response across government, has also been vital. The strong partnership with business and the support of other social partners has enabled the deployment of valuable resources and expertise,” he concluded.
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