The BBC congratulates Eskom for achieving an Energy Availability Factor (EAF) of 70.78% – BBC

15 May 2024

The Black Business Council (BBC) applauds the ESKOM Board ably led by Chairman Management lead by GCEO Dan MACQkane, Group Generation led by Bheki Nxumalo as Group Executive and all employees on improving the Energy Availability Factor (EAF) to 70.78%, "a milestone last achieved nearly three (3) years ago. This has led to the power utility suspending load shedding for more than a month.

The BBC is more impressed as this achievement was attained without an increased use of diesel or significant usage of Open Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGTs). The improved EAF was achieved even though Generation planned maintenance averaged above 16%, being the highest over the last three years.

The BBC has always emphasised that the only technically sound and proven solution to stopping load-shedding was to recover Eskom generation plants and achieve sustained improvements in generation performance. All the other unproven solutions sponsored by paid renewable energy lobbyists will never take the country out of its misery of blackouts. A sustainable energy is required on a constant basis for the recovery and reconstruction of the economy.

The BBC urges ESKOM to continue to focus on maintenance in order to improve the baseload (dispatchable) energy supply to South Africans. This is needed by business in order to grow the economy, reduce unemployment, poverty and unemployment.

Eskom should disregard the naysayers who don't believe that black leadership can achieve anything positive and also continue to ignore the noise made by its erstwhile incompetent CEO who is desperate for attention.

Issued by BBC, 16 May 2024