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IOL News
05-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Eskom optimistic about winter 2025 amidst operational setbacks
According to Eskom CEO Dan Marokane, the winter preparations were a testament to the hard-earned victories achieved over the past year. Image: Bhekikhaya Mabaso/Independent Newspapers Banele Ginidza Eskom is entering the winter of 2025 with a renewed sense of optimism, reporting significant improvements in its performance metrics while acknowledging ongoing operational challenges. In the latest winter outlook from 1 April to 31 August 2025, the power utility on Monday outlined a comprehensive plan aimed at ensuring a more stable electricity supply during the colder months. According to Eskom CEO Dan Marokane, the winter preparations were a testament to the hard-earned victories achieved over the past year. 'Against this progress, we have seen some setbacks in operational excellence, as evidenced by the recent loadshedding requirements between January to April 2025,' Marokane said. 'A targeted plan has been put in place to reinforce operational discipline and accelerate recovery initiatives to address the root causes related to the recent load shedding events. We are maintaining our focus on the Generation Recovery Plan and Demand Management initiatives to minimise load shedding requirements over the Winter 2025 period.' Eskom said its winter 2025 unplanned breakdown assumptions have been revised downwards by 1 000MW–2 000MW against the winter 2024 assumptions. In the scenario that breakdowns remain below 13 000MW, Eskom anticipated spending a further R700 million on diesel to run its open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs) until 31 August 2025. This improved winter outlook was due to a 3 100MW decline in unplanned outages compared to the previous year. As a result, the forecast range has been lowered to 13 000MW – 15 000MW, down from 14 000MW - 17 000W in Winter 2024. Last winter had no load shedding, with average unplanned outages at 12 300MW — significantly below the winter 2024 base-case projection of 14 000MW. 'This is due to improved plant reliability. This results in maximum Stage 2 load shedding expected,' Eskom said. Eskom's head of generation, Bheki Nxumalo, said the utility was better prepared with more than 2 580MW still to come through in the winter months while it maintained focus the Generation Recovery Plan and Demand Management initiatives to minimise load shedding requirements over the Winter 2025 period. Adding to this overall positive climate, Eskom has bolstered its operational readiness with the anticipation of a further 2 580MW of power capacity. Key contributors to this figure include the return of Medupi Unit 4, which will deliver 800MW by the end of May after undergoing extensive repairs, alongside the commissioning of Kusile Unit 5, anticipated to add another 800MW in late June. The return of Koeberg Unit 1 in August is also set to provide a crucial 980MW boost, strengthening the baseload power supply during the winter months. "In the event the need arises, our approach is to minimise the impact of load shedding on the economy through implementing load shedding over weekends or outside business hours where possible," he said. Nxumalo said the downward trend observed in unplanned losses is driven mainly by five of the eight priority power stations identified two years ago in the Generation Recovery Plan (Tutuka, Mendal, Majuba, Duvha and Kusile). The unplanned losses experienced between January and March 2025 were the result of a combination of events, clustering of boiler tube leaks, several breakdown incidents including trips and partial load losses, higher than normal rainfall and delayed from planned outages. The 18 000MW of unplanned losses in 2023 versus the 12 900MW in April 2025 though shows an improvement illustrating to Eskom that reduction of load shedding is off the back of improved plant performance.
Daily Maverick
25-04-2025
- Business
- Daily Maverick
Eskom announces Stage 2 load shedding, citing ‘higher-than-expected' demand
Stage 2 load shedding kicks in until Friday morning due to 'higher demand, extensive maintenance and loss of generation units'. Eskom announced that it would implement Stage 2 load shedding from 4pm on Thursday, 24 April, until at least 5am on Friday. The utility said 'higher-than-expected' electricity demand, 'extensive' planned maintenance and 'the loss of generation units' were the proximal causes for this most recent bout of rotational power cuts. Daily Maverick has previously reported that Eskom last implemented Stage 2 load shedding on Wednesday night, 19 March. In February, Eskom CEO Dan Marokane told Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts that the utility would need to meet its targeted goal for reliability and additional generation capacity before declaring that load shedding was permanently over. He was echoing the sentiments of Minister of Electricity and Energy Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, who has stressed that Eskom's fleet is undergoing a period of deep, sustained maintenance, which will have the effect of reducing the available capacity at any one time, but will be in the utility's long-term interest. Should there be an unplanned loss of generation capacity or 'higher-than-expected' electricity demand, as was the case on Thursday, Eskom would be forced to implement load shedding to protect the national grid, he said. Marokane said in that meeting that when the utility finished this 'cycle of deep maintenance', Eskom would get back to 'a comfort level that helped us manage the long period of no load shedding'. Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena told Daily Maverick on Thursday that the recent inclement and rainy weather in parts of the country was likely to have played an important role in increased electricity demand. She would not be drawn on details on which power stations were affected by the loss of generation units, citing recent security protocols. Earlier on Thursday, Eskom attempted to pre-empt the possibility of load shedding, saying, 'With tonight's peak demand (5pm-9pm) approaching, the electricity grid is under strain. We urge everyone to act now by reducing energy use. Please switch off all non-essential appliances; every small action makes a big difference.' Eskom has doubled down on this message, urging people to reduce their electricity consumption to 'help reduce pressure on the grid'. Democratic Alliance spokesperson on energy and electricity Kevin Mileham told Daily Maverick on Thursday, 'The return of load shedding highlights the significant constraints on our electricity systems. It also demonstrates that the energy availability factor (EAF) of Eskom's fleet is still falling far short of the targets they set for themselves.' As part of Eskom's generation recovery plan initiated in April 2023, the power utility set a target of 70% EAF. It now hovers at around 55%, a return to a near-identical low seen when the plan was first implemented. 'We need much greater emphasis on the Generation Recovery Plan,' said Mileham, 'as well as much speedier procurement of new generation capacity. Given that Eskom is severely limited financially, that means it would have to come from Independent Power Producers.' DM
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Eskom integrates Kusile's final unit, aiming for 2.5GW by 2025
Eskom has added the final 800MW unit of Kusile power station, Unit 6, to South Africa's national grid. The development represents a milestone in Eskom's strategy to add 2.5GW of new capacity by March 2025. Up to September 2025, Unit 6 will undergo testing and optimisation before being officially added to Eskom's generation fleet. Kusile's sister project, Medupi, is set to return 800MW from Unit 4 by April 2025 after an extended outage due to a generator stator failure. Once Kusile Unit 6 reaches commercial operation, both newbuild power station projects will be in commercial operation. Eskom Group CEO Dan Marokane stated: 'Kusile Unit 6's addition is proof that we are making continued progress in stabilising and strengthening South Africa's electricity supply. Meeting the targets we set in the Generation Recovery Plan and our strategic roadmap underscores our determination to deliver new capacity, enhance generation performance, support economic growth and ultimately deliver a more sustainable energy future. 'We re-iterate our commitment to ensuring that South Africa is in no way returning to the levels of load-shedding that we experienced in 2023. Our focus remains on delivering a more reliable, resilient and sustainable power system for the country.' The Kusile power station will contribute 4.8GW when all units are in operation, making it South Africa's largest infrastructure project. The power plant is also the first in the country to implement wet flue gas desulphurisation technology to meet air quality standards. Eskom Group executive for generation Bheki Nxumalo stated: 'Eskom is at a critical point returning megawatts to the grid as we are currently in a constrained state. This milestone is a testament to the unwavering dedication and resilience of Eskom's employees and contractors. Their commitment has driven us forward despite numerous challenges. 'As we celebrate this progress, our focus is now on ensuring that Unit 6 achieves commercial operation in the second half of 2025, further strengthening South Africa's energy security.' Eskom remains committed to its Generation Operational Recovery Plan, focusing on governance and sustainability to ensure energy security for South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. In January 2025, Eskom connected the 930MW Unit 2 of the Koeberg nuclear power station to the national grid, advancing the plan. This connection follows a long-term operation programme to extend the unit's life by 20 years, following similar upgrades to Unit 1. "Eskom integrates Kusile's final unit, aiming for 2.5GW by 2025" was originally created and published by Power Technology, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
