The power situation has eased somewhat over the past few days and there has been no load-shedding since February 4, Eskom CEO Jacob Maroga told reporters on Thursday in Sunninghill, near Johannesburg.
Maroga was announcing measures to be taken by Eskom to resolve the country’s electricity crisis, following the announcement of the government’s national recovery plan to tackle the emergency.
“The unavoidable load shedding of January left South Africans with a sense of anger and frustration, which was completely justified,” said Maroga in a statement issued after the press briefing. “It is a time for leadership and accountability.
“Although the solution to this problem does not lie with Eskom alone — in fact, Eskom cannot build new power stations fast enough to meet South Africa’s demand — it is our duty to deliver to South Africans a plan that is workable and achievable; a plan that demonstrates Eskom’s commitment to providing security of supply, in partnership, with all our stakeholders; a plan that can form the basis of a national rallying cry or a movement in which each and every one of us plays a crucial role, for the sake of our nation’s future.”
Eskom’s mandate is to re-establish its ability to provide a secure power supply. A plan to achieve this has already started and will run until 2012, when Eskom’s first base-load power station will come on line.
The plan has three phases: stabilisation (until the end of February), to restore 4 000MW to the system; power rationing (March to July); and power conservation and supply-side options (August 2008 to 2012).
Maroga said: “It is important to note that power rationing is a positive step towards providing consumers and businesses with a measure of predictability. If we are able to maintain the load reduction, the reserve margin increases to the required 15% and our maintenance can be done to ensure reliability of supply.”
Having sufficient coal stockpiles remains a serious challenge for Eskom. South Africa needs 45-million tonnes of coal over the next two years.
This pile had gone down from a 20-day supply to a four-day supply recently, said Eskom’s Brian Dames, one of the executive committee members heading up a crisis task team. He said the aim will be to get levels back up to 20 days before winter — and, if possible, even a 35-day supply.
Maroga said mines are “voluntarily” reducing power by 10% for the next three years.
He also said Eskom will still stick to its agreement to supply electricity to the Alcan project at Coega in the Eastern Cape, but did not say exactly how this will be achieved.
It will be a challenge to keep commitments to the projects: “Where we can reschedule, we will reschedule,” he said. Eskom will not break any contracts unilaterally.
He concluded by saying: “The system remains tight, and even with the plan in place, there are many elements and uncontrolled impacts that can adversely affect the supply. However, if we achieve our targets as a nation and become energy efficient we can get the power back.”