Eskom sets out plans to meet winter supply challenges
Friday, 8 April 2011: Eskom today detailed its plan to meet electricity supply challenges in the coming winter months, when higher demand will increase the load on a tight power system (see full report - PDF).
Brian Dames, the Eskom Chief Executive, and his senior management team provided the information at Eskom's second quarterly briefing on the state of the power system. As he did at the January briefing, Dames emphasised that, while Eskom is resolved to keep the lights on during difficult periods over the next few years, Eskom cannot do it alone. Success requires the support of all electricity consumers through reduced demand and energy efficiency measures.
"We are managing a tight power system. We are on alert and we will continue to communicate with our stakeholders on the state of the system," he said. "Eskom managed to keep the lights on during the first quarter of 2011, thanks to innovative supply-side initiatives, active demand-side management and the co-operation
of 49 million South Africans.
"The winter season will be even more challenging, but Eskom is working actively to improve supply and reduce demand in order to manage increased risks to the system." Dames reminded South Africans to use electricity wisely. "If you're not using it, switch it off!"
The Minister of Public Enterprises Malusi Gigaba said: "The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) remains resolute that the country should never go through another period of painful, rotational load-shedding as experienced in the past. Therefore the prudent use of electricity by all South Africans, including households, industry, government and business, will assist us in this regard."
The balance between supply and demand will remain tight over the next five years, and particularly this year and in 2012, as demand rises while new power station capacity comes on line in phases when units are completed.
"Eskom will, in turn, continue to improve its generation fleet operational performance, reduce transmission and distribution system losses, improve its internal energy efficiency initiatives, as well as its demand side management programmes, while ensuring that the timeous delivery of the Build Programme is not compromised," added Gigaba.
Dames noted that winter load profile is "peaky", with peak demand only for a few hours a day. However Eskom has to have enough capacity in the system to meet these peaks and also maintain an operating reserve to protect the system.
Coal stockpiles are at a healthy level of over 42 days. Eskom continues its focus on optimising coal handling and coal quality management.
As in the first quarter, Eskom's winter plans include both supply side and demand side initiatives. On the supply side, some 373 MW of power from independent power producers has already been contracted, and Eskom is achieving additional output from its own power stations by improving plant performance. Further, Eskom has signed short-term contracts with Municipal generators for more than 200MW capacity to augment the supply options.
Demand side initiatives encompass all electricity consumers, from large industrial users to domestic consumers. Eskom is launching a number of campaigns aimed at chieving voluntary electricity savings of 10% across its customer base.
"In the last financial year we invested nearly R1bn in our larger customers to support their energy efficiency measures. A further R1,8-billion is available for energy efficiency upgrades in the new financial year, " says Dames.
Eskom will continue to support government's programme to install a million solar water geysers by 2014. The pace has accelerated, with 60 000 installed over the past year.
Dames declined to speculate on the cause of the February incident at Duvha power station, which is still under investigation. He promised that once the investigation was complete, a statement would be released to stakeholders.
The Duvha outage will take nearly 600 MW out of the system for more than a year while repairs are being effected. Eskom has revised its maintenance schedule to accommodate this. Eskom does all of its planned maintenance in summer, when demand is lower, so that maximum capacity is available in winter. The maintenance season is usually scheduled to end in mid May, as winter sets in.
The winter peak demand is expected to reach 37 500 MW in July this year, compared to the summer peak of 33 064 MW and last winter's peak of 36 970 MW.
"We kept the lights on in the first quarter, but the next three months will be tighter than the last three months. We can address the challenge of keeping the lights on only if all 49 million of us South Africans work together. We need to create a culture of energy efficiency, to save power, save our pockets, and save the planet," Dames said.
Statement issued by Eskom, April 8 2011
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