Eskom has been caught napping again and has caused massive disruption to the public and the economy, the Democratic Alliance said on Wednesday.
”Eskom has informed the public too late about load shedding and has caused massive disruptions,” said DA spokesperson on Minerals and Energy Affairs, Hendrik Schmidt.
”I will be submitting a number of questions to the Minister of Minerals and Energy [Affairs], Buyelwa Sonjica, about the regulations and policies of her department and the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, in this regard,” Schmidt said.
He said power failures were costing the economy up to R8-billion a year, and that the costs were not only measurable in financial terms.
”Yesterday [Tuesday] in Eshowe and Shallcross, learners had their matric typing exams interrupted, requiring the paper to be reset by the KwaZulu-Natal education department, and the exam to be postponed to a later date.
”This morning [Wednesday], traffic lights not working caused pandemonium in various areas in Johannesburg. DA representatives in Port Elizabeth reported that elderly pensioners throughout the city were left queuing in the wet and the cold at pension points that were not working due to a lack of electricity.”
”Minerals and Energy [Affairs] Minister Buyelwa Sonjica, who is in charge of the regulation and policy making concerning electricity generation, needs to address this situation,” Schmidt said.
Eskom spokesperson Fani Zulu told the Mail and Guardian Online on Wednesday the power failures came at an ”unexpected time due to the severe weather conditions and the increase in demand”.
Zulu said load shedding would probably continue for the rest of the week
”Eskom appeals to all consumers to use electricity sparingly in order to reduce the demand of electricity and to assist in minimising load shedding,” said an Eskom statement.
Eskom is working at 20% of its capacity said Zulu, adding that there was a shortfall of 4 700 megawatts due to maintenance at power stations.
Clinkers, leaks and wet coal
On Tuesday, power failures due to ”technical problems”, led to a shortfall of 2 030 megawatts.
”Two generator units were shut down due to boiler-tube leaks. This is when the coal is crushed and burned at high temperatures in the boiler to produce heat. These tubes holding the water produced a leak. It’s a common occurrence,” said Zulu.
He said another problem was the removal of ”clinkers” from the boilers. Zulu explained this happened ”when ash usually drops on to the conveyor belts after the coal is burnt, some hug on to the boilers. These are called clinkers. The boiler then has to be shut down and cooled, and only then can the clinkers be removed.”
He said this was a common occurrence, but they had ”occurred at the wrong time, when demand increased”.
He said that several power stations were operating at less than capacity due to the cold weather.
Zulu also said that the wet coal reduced the capacity of power stations.