Minister in the Presidency responsible for Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, is expected to visit the Kusile Power Station today.
At least three of the power station’s units are currently offline due to a flue gas duct failure which occurred during October last year – costing Eskom at least 2400MW of capacity.
The three units are expected back online later this year.
“During the visit, the Minister will receive a status report on the measures taken to bring back the four units at Kusile by December. This will be followed by an inspection of the construction project taking place at Kusile currently.
“Government has taken steps to improve the performance of Eskom’s existing coal fleet as part of a resolution to load shedding. The visit to Kusile is part of the Ministers efforts to ensure the station is on track to produce the much needed megawatts,” a Government Communication and Information System media statement read.
Meanwhile, Eskom has announced that it expects the country to alternate between Stage 3 and 5 load shedding until further notice.
Stage 3 will be implemented between 5am and 4pm daily followed by Stage 5 from 4pm to 5am.
Breakdowns at power stations are currently at 16 486MW of generating capacity with some 3 817MW generating capacity out of service due to planned maintenance.
“In the last 24 hours, a generation unit at Duvha Power Station was taken out of service due to breakdown. Furthermore, the delay in returning units to service at Arnot, Camden, Kendal, Tutuka and two generating units at Hendrina power stations continue to add to the current capacity constraints. The team is working tirelessly to ensure that generating units are returned to service as soon as possible.
“We thank those South Africans who do heed the call to use electricity sparingly and efficiently, including switching off geysers from 5pm to 9pm, in helping to alleviate the pressure on the power system and avoiding higher stages of load shedding,” Eskom said. – SAnews.gov.za
