Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said while they remain optimistic about power utility Eskom's success in the past few months, load shedding is still not a thing of the past. Ramokgopha was giving an update on electricity distribution and generation performance at a media briefing in Pretoria this morning. 

LOADSHEDDING HAS NOT ENDED

The Minister said in the next three weeks or so, Eskom will be sharing what the summer outlook is. "We are still buoyant about the performance of these generation plants. Having said that, we need to caution against any early declaration to decree load shedding behind us. We do everything possible to resolve this question, but the numbers do indicate that we are within touching distance," said Ramokgopa. He added that the one area that is now receiving attention is load reduction. According to Ramokgopa, the number of households that are affected by load reduction is around 360,000 against the seven million households that Eskom is servicing, which is about 5%. "But that 5% matters because it's largely in poor areas. So, it's important that we don't create the impression that we only cater for those in affluent areas and neglect those in poor areas," he added. 

GENERATING UNITS

Ramokgopa said the electricity grid would be improved, with producing units due back by the end of the month. He made special mention of Tutuka, Kendal, and Kriel power stations, which he says are generating units. He explained that Tutuka has experienced a significant amount of challenges over some time, but they are seeing results now. Just this period from March to August, the unplanned capacity loss factor (UCLF) has reduced by 29%. "That's significant from where Tutuka started; they've moved from 2 411 megawatts (MW) to 949 MW. At Kendal, there were major issues about exceeding the emissions standards, so there were several interventions that had to be made. We have seen exceptional results at Kriel, with the reduction in the UCLF having gone down 53% from 1 400 MW to about 508 MW," the Minister said. He said they are expecting Medupi Unit 4 to give them 800 MW and to fire up Kusile Unit 6, which is another 800 MW. "We are hoping to get an extension of life for Koeberg Unit, but we are not complacent. We are doing everything by the book, and we are still optimistic about getting that extension of life, and it will give us an additional 980 MW. We do expect that by the end of August this year, just from the Eskom fleet, we should be getting an additional 2500 MW," he said.