Day: April 24, 2023

Eskom chairperson Mpho Makwana says the power utility is working around the clock to improve plant performance and reduce load shedding.

This as Eskom’s Generation Turnaround Programme seeks to achieve 65% energy availability factor (EAF) by 31 March 2024 and 70% by 31 March 2025.

Addressing the Demand Side Management Indaba in Johannesburg on Monday, he said the recent appointment of the energy executive Bheki Nxumalo as Head of Generation will bring stability at the power utility.

“When we rectified the appointment of the head of generation it was in the context of seeing him as the champion that will ensure that we achieve the requisite EAF and by extension achieving the EAF assures us of edging closer to stability in terms ameliorating load shedding,” Makwana said.

Nxumalo boasts some 20 years of experience in the energy sector at all levels and was working within the ranks of Eskom as Chief Executive Officer for Eskom Enterprise and Eskom Rotek Industries.

He has also worked as power station manager at two Eskom power stations and general manager at Kusile Power Station.

Makwana said Eskom is at an advanced state in the short listing process for the next new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

“We now have a shortlist of five candidates,” he said.

Former Eskom CEO, André de Ruyter, resigned from the power utility in December. De Ruyter had been at the helm of the ailing electricity supplier since December 2019.

“We need to have a conversation about implementing smart metering in our country. If we were to implement smart metering it would contribute substantially to the grid’s performance. As the board, we are looking at the best practice in the world, we look at the broader energy outlook to get a greater sense of thinking around solving the load shedding problems,” Makwana said.

Energy Action Plan

In July last year President Ramaphosa announced the Energy Action Plan (EAP) aimed at easing and then ending load shedding.

The plan was developed through extensive consultation and endorsed by energy experts as providing the best and fastest path towards energy security.

Intensive work is underway to implement the plan, which aims to, firstly, improve the performance of Eskom power stations, and, secondly, to bring new generating capacity onto the system as quickly as possible.

Among the areas where progress has been made:

The licensing requirement for embedded generation projects has been removed. Since government first raised the licensing threshold to 100 MW, the pipeline of private sector projects has grown to more than 100 projects with over 9,000 MW of capacity. South Africa expects the first of these projects to connect to the grid by the end of this year.

Agreements have been signed with independent power producers for 26 renewable energy projects, which together will generate around 2,800 MW. Construction on these projects will soon start.

An additional 300 MW has been imported through the Southern African Power Pool, and negotiations are underway to secure a potential 1,000 MW from neighbouring countries.

Eskom has also launched a programme to purchase up to 1,000 MW of power from companies with existing generation capacity for a period of three years.

Government has cut red tape and streamlined regulatory processes, reducing the timeframes for environmental authorisations, registration of new projects and grid connection approvals.

Government has established a team of independent experts to work closely with Eskom to diagnose the problems at poorly performing power stations and take action to improve plant performance. Six power stations have been identified for particular focus over the coming months in order to recover additional capacity.

Source: South African Government News Agency

In his weekly newsletter, President Cyril Ramaphosa says government is determined to tackle both the energy crisis and climate change together.

“The country is faced with both an electricity crisis and a climate crisis, which we must tackle together. Our position is clear and principled: it is possible for us to prioritise our immediate energy needs without jeopardising our climate commitments, and we are determined to do so.

“In fact, we must accelerate the pace of investment in new renewable electricity generation as an important part of the plan to overcome load shedding,” the President said on Monday.

While the country is faced with both an electricity and climate crisis, President Ramaphosa said government is intensifying efforts to address the electricity shortfall and it remains committed to reduce carbon emissions through a just transition.

The President says that how the country responds to the energy crisis will determine the future and the growth of the economy.

In addition to ending load shedding, the Energy Action Plan will act as a springboard to a just energy transition, boosting the rollout of renewable energy sources, mobilising hundreds of billions of Rand in investment and creating new jobs in sectors from electric vehicles to solar installation.

“We must be able to look back on this crisis as a crucial turning point for South Africa – as a moment where we not only worked together to overcome a national challenge, but laid the foundation for a better future,” he said.

The President highlighted that intensive work is underway to reduce load shedding by improving the performance of Eskom’s power stations.

This includes returning units at the Kusile and Medupi power stations to service on schedule, which will together add over 3,500 MW back to the grid.

It also includes improving the quality of coal supplied to power stations and ensuring that appropriate skills, adequate funding and effective planning are put in place for maintenance.

“We are making real progress in adding new generation capacity to the grid, buying power from neighbouring countries, fast-tracking new wind, solar, battery storage and gas projects. We have previously said that we have a deficit of some 6,000 MW, which we are working to close through all these efforts.

“We are seeing a massive surge of private investment in electricity generation as a result of reforms we have embarked upon. These reforms mean that private companies can invest in generation projects of any size and feed their power into the grid,” the President said.

He acknowledged that while these initiatives give the country confidence that it will end load shedding, they will take time to show results.

He said that Eskom is undertaking necessary maintenance now to ensure that planned outages can be limited during winter, when demand is expected to increase.

“As we enter the winter months, when our consumption of electricity rises, we will need to manage our use of electricity. One of the ways in which every South African can contribute to reduce load shedding is by switching off at peak times the home appliances that use a lot of electricity, such as geysers. There are simple energy saving solutions like geyser timers or geyser blankets that we can use,” the President said.

The President added that one of the issues widely discussed in light of the current electricity shortfall is the pace at which older coal-fired power stations that are coming to the end of their lives will be decommissioned.

South Africa has committed to reduce its carbon emissions by 2030 to within a target range which, at its upper level, is compatible with limiting global temperature increase to 1.5ºC.

“We remain committed to achieving this target. We need to do this to prevent the worst effects of climate change, including droughts, floods and other disasters. We also need to protect jobs in sectors of our economy that have to decarbonise to remain globally competitive. However, the manner in which these commitments are achieved must not compromise energy security or the immediate priority of reducing load shedding,” the President said.

In some cases, the President said, it may be necessary to re-examine the timeframe and the process of decommissioning or mothballing of coal-fired power stations temporarily to address the electricity supply shortfall.

“Few would argue that we should close down power stations even as we experience load shedding. A number of countries in Europe that had decommissioned or mothballed their fossil fuelled power stations are recommissioning them to address the current energy shortage as a result of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

“The process of re-examining our timeframes is not a reversal of our position on the just energy transition. Other countries have had to do the same in recent years without deviating from their long-term shift to renewable energy sources,” he said.

The President emphasised that any decision on decommissioning will be informed by a detailed technical assessment of the feasibility of continuing to operate older plants.

He added that it will also be informed by the timeframe in which we can expect new capacity from other energy sources and the impact on our decarbonisation trajectory.

“The health and environmental impact of emissions from coal-fired power stations also needs to be considered. In a meeting last week of the Presidential Climate Commission, it was pointed out that the transition to clean energy sources will prevent more than 400,000 avoidable deaths attributable to air pollution by 2050,” the President said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

At least 2000 families in Mandera were forced out of their homes after heavy rains that pounded the area for more than 12 hours wreaked havoc. The heavy torrents characterized by floods submerged their homes forcing the families to seek refuge on higher grounds as the storm left a trail of destruction uprooting trees and other structures on its path. Preliminary reports indicated that an estimated 100,000 families were affected in parts of Mandera East, Mandera North and Mandera West constituencies where a heavy downpour was witnessed since the rainy season resumed. Displaced residents are calling for urgent intervention for evacuation to higher grounds to save lives and property. Mandera Governor Mohamed Adan Khalif while assessing the impact of floods urged residents to wary of risks of water borne diseases and told them to especially guard the children who were more vulnerable of contracting such infections. He announced plans to roll out relief operations to affected families but appealed to all partners to stand with Mandera County during these difficult times. ‘As of tomorrow (Monday) we will dispatch teams to all affected areas to help them with whatever they need so as to survive ‘said governor. He added ‘the county is just emerging from an emergency caused by prolonged drought and was moving into another Emergency that caused by torrential rains.’ Mandera County Commissioner Amos Mariba told the residents to move to higher grounds so as not to be affected by the floods. He also added the government will do all it can to help the residents affected by the rains which have come with floods. Kenya Red Cross has also embarked on sensitization among the residents for them to move to safer areas. Flash floods occur when heavy rainfall exceeds the ability of the ground to absorb it. They also occur when water fills normally dry creeks or streams or enough water accumulates for streams to overtop their banks, causing rapid rises of water in a short amount of time.

Source: Kenya News Agency