Early-morning breakdowns, but Eskom not expecting load-shedding

22nd November 2019

By: News24Wire

  

Font size: - +

Eskom said on Friday morning that it does not expect any load-shedding during the day, despite what it described as a constrained and vulnerable electricity system.

Generating plants are still performing at very low levels of reliability, Eskom said, with some unplanned breakdowns at 06:00 on Friday morning.

Load-shedding will only be implemented if absolutely necessary, the power utility promised. It added that there is currently sufficient diesel for its open cycle gas turbines and water at the pumped storage schemes to supplement the shortage of capacity, if required.

Unplanned outages above 9 500 MW mean Eskom has to resort to emergency power generation by using open cycle gas turbines and pumped-storage hydroelectric plants. These are very expensive ways of generating power, particularly the gas turbines, which require large quantities of diesel.

The system is closely monitored, but any unexpected shift, such as additional unplanned breakdowns, could result in load-shedding at short notice.

Eskom has not yet provided an indication of the prospects of load-shedding for the weekend.

Edited by News24Wire

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION