During the past few months South Africans have had to deal with loadshedding on a daily basis, with it reaching Stage 4 at some points. Since then things have stabilised, and now Eskom has reassured South Africans that they do not foresee any loadshedding this winter even though the demand for electricity may increase.
It is said that Eskom has implemented new tariffs which are expected to start on 1st July, which are said to lead to lower industry usage.
“We’ve done a lot of maintenance work over the past few months and are still continuing. Our coal and diesel stock levels are healthy. The system is stable, so we don’t foresee any load shedding. Normally in winter the peak period for demand is between 17:00 and 21:00, but we don’t think it will lead to rolling load shedding,” explained acting head of generation at Eskom, Andrew Etzinger.
The publication adds that in April Eskom made a commitment as part of its winter plan to avoid loadshedding, or at least limiting it to Stage 1, during the winter months. It also added that the new power stations at Kusile and Medupi would continue to be built, with Kusile’s units successfully been synchronised to the national grid.
“The power grid might be put under pressure as customers demands increase, but the utility was in a good position to meet the needs,” added Etzinger.
It should be interesting to see if Eskom can indeed live up to its promise, having failed in the past.
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