Power utility Eskom has commended itself, for managing to reduce its diesel spend by R9.59 billion over the last five months.
This as Eskom has in the past years spent billions of rands to keep the lights on in the country, especially during the high stages of load shedding.
“The Generation Operational Recovery Plan continues to deliver efficiencies for Eskom, with R9.59 billion reduction in Open-Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGTs) diesel expenditure from 01 April 2024 to 07 August 2024, compared to the same period last year,” said Eskom spokesperson, Daphne Mokwena.
Mokwena said the entity spend R3.48 billion on OCGTs between 01 April and 07 August 2024, less than the R13.07 billion spent last year over the same period.
Eskom’s comments come as it marked 137 consecutive days without load shedding on Sunday since 26 March, including 101 days of constant supply throughout the winter period.
According to Mokwena, there has been no loadshedding since the beginning of Eskom’s current financial year, which commenced on 01 April 2024.
“The last time South Africa experienced over four months of loadshedding suspension was more than four years ago, from 16 March 2020 to 09 July 2020, when loadshedding was suspended for 116 days,” continues Mokwena.
Eskom said it has maintained an average Energy Availability Factor (EAF) of 68% over the past seven days.
“Over the past seven days, Medupi, Majuba, Matla, Lethabo, Kusile and the peaking stations recorded an EAF greater than 70%. Additionally, four more power stations achieved an EAF above 60%. Notably, five of these stations were part of the priority list in our recovery plan,” explained the spokesperson.
Despite the significant improvement and the suspension of loadshedding, Eskom said warned that it continues to face network overloading issues in certain local areas.
It said these is due to illegal connections, vandalism, meter tampering, unauthorised network operations, theft of network equipment, and purchasing electricity from unlicensed vendors.
“To prevent public safety hazards and the risk of network overloading which can lead to load reduction measures and extended unplanned power outages, Eskom strongly urges customers to avoid illegal connections, as this can negatively impact the entire local community. It is also essential for customers to ensure they purchase electricity only from authorised vendors,” urged Mokwena.
