Ramaphosa reports significant progress in the energy action plan
President Ramaphosa has said that the government has made significant progress in several areas, such as building new generation capacity and transforming the electricity sector through regulatory reforms. He announced that a detailed report outlining Eskom’s power stations performance will be released, one year after the energy action plan was launched. “Eskom’s generation fleet continues to show […]
President Ramaphosa has said that the government has made significant progress in several areas, such as building new generation capacity and transforming the electricity sector through regulatory reforms.
He announced that a detailed report outlining Eskom’s power stations performance will be released, one year after the energy action plan was launched.
“Eskom’s generation fleet continues to show sustained improvement. Unplanned losses have been reduced to less than 16,000MW in the past two months, down from more than 18,000MW previously,” said Ramaphosa.
The president said that by stabilising Eskom’s power stations’ performance and reducing demand during the winter, they managed to avert a worst-case scenario, despite ongoing load-shedding.
“Planned maintenance has been reduced during the winter period, with Eskom having undertaken significant maintenance in the months preceding winter. Looking ahead, damaged units at the Kusile and Medupi power stations are being returned to service on an expedited basis,” said the president.
ALSO READ: Eskom: Update on Energy Action Plan by NECOM
AMOUNT OF ENERGY UNLOCKED
According to the president, since the launch of the energy action plan, a lot of power has been added to the grid. He said that Eskom has unlocked almost 400MW from companies with spare capacity, and the government is in the process of adding another 600MW.
Ramaphosa’s weekly newsletter stated that the debt relief package announced earlier this year by the finance minister would enable Eskom to expand and maintain its transmission lines.
“We are fast-tracking the procurement of new generation capacity from renewables, gas, and battery storage. Later this year the first three projects from the emergency power program are expected to connect to the grid,” he stated.
ALSO READ: NFP councillor in Nongoma Municipality shot dead
The president said it is encouraging to see more municipalities allowing their customers to feed surplus electricity into the grid when they have excess power, which will encourage businesses to invest in alternative energy.
In addition, over 10,000MW of new capacity is set to be connected to the grid starting this year as a result of the work done to enable a boom in private investment in electricity generation.
Furthermore, the president hopes to encourage citizens to become involved by launching a website that allows them to view the work of the national energy crisis committee and learn how to reduce their consumption and save energy.
ALSO READ: Solar: SA businesses can eliminate five stages of load shedding