Here’s how ESKOM spent R12 billion on diesel since April

Speaking at Eskom’s monthly briefing last week, Electricity Minister Kgosientso Ramokgopa admitted that Eskom has spent R12 billion on diesel since April. The minister defended the exorbitant figure, which equates to R3 billion a month, by saying it’s the cost of keeping the South African economy going.

READ MORE: Record-breaking heatwave: Morocco hits unprecedented 50°C

ESKOM SPENT R12 BILLION ON DIESEL: BUT HOW?

“What we are sharing is nothing outside of what we had promised. It is within our budget and we did say that burning diesel is going to come at great cost to the fiscus. You have to make a choice on whether you continue to burn this diesel. Essentially expending a lot of money and protect the SA economy or allow the economy to go into free fall,” Ramokgopa said.

ALSO READ: Here’s why your internet connection could be slow this month

The minister explained that the R12 billion on diesel has been spent on three initiatives since April. R9.2 billion was spent on buying diesel to power its fleet of open-cycle gas turbines. And R3.2 billion went towards buying electricity generated by independent producers.

ALSO READ: Delays hit SA’s R160-billion renewable energy plan

Eskom had planned three key interventions to keep load shedding as low as possible during winter:

• Trying to make plants run better.
• Reducing demand.
• Burning diesel to whatever extent needed.

END OF WINTER MIGHT SEE A REPRIEVE

The good news is Ramokgopa said he expected the intensity of loadshedding to start to decrease as the country nears the end of winter. This will allow for more planned maintenance of the power grid.

ALSO READ: New MEGA bridge in SA will be funded by Chinese money

Meanwhile, as we reported last week, the uptake of solar energy by private citizens and companies is quietly saving Eskom and the country. In the same time Eskom spent R12 billion on diesel, the solar industry has seen a massive upswing in the import of solar panels and generating devices.

ALSO READ: Here’s why millions of prepaid electricity meters could stop working

This upswing is calculated at R12 billion since April, coincidentally enough, adding what is believed to be 2 200 MW of generation capacity to the grid. Generation capacity that Eskom and its diesel-burning strategy didn’t need to cover.

Are you fed up Eskom’s loadshedding? Have you gone, or are you considering going off-the-grid with solar power? Let us and our audience know how you did it in the comments section below?