State-owned utility Eskom will continue to implement load-shedding for the rest of this week, with the potential for the stage to be either increased or decreased on short notice, depending on the units being returned to service or further breakdowns, COO Jan Oberholzer indicated during a briefing on September 12.

As previously communicated by the entity, Stage 3 is currently being implemented, and will continue until 05:00 on Tuesday morning. From then, Stage 2 will be implemented for the rest of the week, until midnight on Friday.

Oberholzer outlined that over the course of last week, considerable capacity was lost owing to unplanned outages, combined with planned maintenance. About 11%, or just under 5 200 MW are on planned maintenance, and during the week, 42 units tripped, some more than once, which equated to just under 24 000 MW of capacity lost.

Eskom has since managed to return 37 of these units, about 22 0000 MW of capacity.

This led to different stages of load-shedding being implemented over the week, with Stage 4 implemented over the weekend owed to “drastic” measures needing to be taken on Saturday morning to replenish diesel and pump storage levels.

Oberholzer said there was no indication that these breakdowns were an act of sabotage.

Oberholzer termed this a “very disappointing week” in terms of generation performance for the entity and apologised to South Africans for the continued implementation of load-shedding, with Eskom unable to meet its mandate of providing sustainable electricity to the country.

He said the Stage 2 and 3 load-shedding for this week was necessary to ensure that dam and diesel levels remain sufficient while the remaining units are brought back to service.

Oberholzer said that, in the lower demand summer period, sporadic load-shedding would remain, with planned maintenance to occur. He indicated that the system was closely monitored.

Oberholzer attributed last week’s poor performance and the continued implementation of load-shedding, to a number of factors, including the various necessary plans being undertaken to increase generation capacity.

He said that, over the next 12 months or so, the benefits thereof would not be realised and the country would continue to rely on an old, unreliable coal fleet that continued to deteriorate owing to inadequate capacity to undertake maintenance.

Further, Oberholzer said demand and supply were not in balance and Eskom had to run emergencies when it had capacity challenges because of this.

He indicated that Eskom had to balance the delicate situation of needing to undertake maintenance on units, but being unable to take these off the grid simultaneously.

Oberholzer said Eskom would be ramping up planned maintenance as the country goes into the summer months; however, this would still be insufficient.

Moreover, he said maintenance had not been yielding the required results and effects, with many units returning from this and still suffering breakdowns, with the poor quality of work owing to a lack of skills and requisite experience, internally and from some partner contractors.

Oberholzer said Eskom was currently dealing with this aspect and would soon communicate the actions to implement to bring in the expertise and competence where needed.

Oberholzer also noted that Eskom had already spent about R7.7-billion in the first six months, considerably over its budget and leaving it on track to overspend for the full year. “This is a tough space to be in, with no money, and needing to use emergencies because there is not enough capacity to supply for the country,” he lamented.

KOEBERG UPDATE

Following a report by News24 earlier on September 12 that a steam generator meant for the Koeberg station had been dropped in the manufacturing facility in China, Oberholzer confirmed that this did occur – but clarified that it happened about a year and a half ago.

He acknowledged that this had resulted in delays to this steam generator being delivered – it is slated to be delivered to South Africa in December, which Oberholzer acknowledged was late. Five of the other generators were on site, and this was the only outstanding one.

Eskom elaborated that the steam generator had been on a stand in the assembly line in the factory in China, when one of the mechanisms that enables it to rotate failed, and caused it to fall about a foot or so onto the floor. It was noted that the analysis of the drop had taken a long time, as did the repairs and inspections.

Oberholzer assured that the repairs had now been completed and that the steam generator had been given a clean bill of health. It was undergoing end of manufacturing inspections, prior to its shipping to Koeberg.

Oberholzer also mentioned that Eskom had undertaken the necessary applications to the National Nuclear Regulator for a 20-year extension for Koeberg, with part of this entailing that Eskom will undertake modifications to the plant and implement programmes to look after the equipment into the future. He said that Eskom believed it had identified what needed to be done, had the plans in place, and was on track to undertake all this work, however, it would be a “tight push”.

The regulator will now review this and engage with the public before deciding whether to grant the licence.

Meanwhile, Oberholzer also indicated that Unit 2 at Koeberg, with 920 MW capacity, remained shut down since September 10, owing to the unit tripping from full power during a routine testing of the control rod.

This is being analysed with the main contractor Framatome, and following a meeting this afternoon, an indication of when this will return to service will be provided.

Oberholzer said the team at Koeberg was aware of the impact of the unavailability of this unit, and was working hard to ensure it could be returned soon.

He highlighted that Unit 1 was operating safely and had been online for more that 300 days.