The Western Cape’s Koeberg nuclear power station is firing on all cylinders again, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Monday.
Eskom spokesperson Andrew Etzinger said one of the Koeberg units, which had been taken offline for maintenance, was recommissioned over the Easter weekend, when low power consumption allowed the power utility to bring the generator online earlier than anticipated.
There has been no load-shedding since the start of the long weekend.
The Sunday Independent reported that Eskom not only wants the country to pay almost two-thirds more for its electricity from April 1, but is also demanding that consumers be forced to make back payments if it does not get permission for the tariff increase immediately.
This would mean cash-strapped consumers would have to cough up close to 70% extra for electricity later this year, the newspaper reported.
Eskom has argued in a confidential submission to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) that tariffs will have to soar to cover the rising costs of coal and additional fuel.
The government supports Eskom’s bid for a 53% tariff increase, the Public Enterprises Department said last week.
“In light of the sharp increases in fuel costs, specifically coal and diesel, and the need for the immediate implementation of an accelerated demand-side management programme, the government supports the principle of an electricity tariff increase to cater for these costs,” it said in a statement.
It explained the price hike the parastatal has requested from Nersa would constitute “essential cash flow” to allow Eskom to deal with the rising costs of fuel and diesel.
Last Tuesday, Nersa announced that Eskom had officially applied for a 53% tariff increase. The move was condemned by political parties and trade unions, who feel the poor will be hit hardest by the hike.
Nersa cannot ignore Eskom’s request for a 53% tariff increase, a business research and consulting firm said last Thursday. “If the country expects the electricity utility to resolve the current capacity crisis, it must be given the resources to do so,” Frost & Sullivan said in a statement.
“In broad terms, we haven’t had significant electricity price increases in the last five to ten years,” said energy industry manager Cornelis van der Waal. “At the same time, there was no additional generation capacity added. The result is that South Africa now has the cheapest electricity in the world, but it also has a crisis on its hands.”