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“Welcome” to Stage 4: Eskom must be declared a State of Disaster

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Dear Editor

Last week the DA wrote to the Minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan, and the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, requesting that they motivate for a Cabinet resolution that addresses impending disaster looming in the country’s electricity sector, almost exclusively under the failing aegis of Eskom.

Now that 17GW of unplanned outages and a further 5GW offline for planned maintenance has been announced – amounting to a third of Eskom generation capacity – the country is in a state of disaster, driven by Eskom’s ongoing failures.

The DA warned that Eskom has “proved beyond any doubt that it is not able to solve South Africa’s 14 year old loadshedding crisis. The entity’s old generation fleet is on life support and is constantly tripping, resulting in power outages being announced at short and debilitating notice.”

It is now high time that our demands are addressed. The dire situation in KwaZulu-Natal is being compounded by electricity supply issues which affect the ability, inter alia, to pump much needed water supplies. People are dying, businesses will die, ports are closed and the country will grind to a halt.

Do we need to wait before this failure engulfs the entire country?

The DA demands that Cabinet addresses this forthwith and that the situation at Eskom is dealt with urgently by way of the declaration of a State of Disaster at Eskom as a prelude to a commission of inquiry into our generation of electricity.

Regards

Ghaleb Cachalia MP
DA Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises

NOTE:

Eskom had to increase rotational power cuts from Stage 2 to stage 4 without warning on Tuesday 19 April 2022.

Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said the change was implemented at 07:20 after Majuba Unit 5 and Tutuka Unit 4 tripped.

Mantshantsha reported that last night the evening peak demand was 30,401 megawatts (MW) at 18:35, with 1,966 MW load being shed.

Eskom used fourteen of its own open cycle gas turbines (OCGTs) and four OCGTs from independent power producers.

Power from renewal sources amounted to 716MW — 312 MW wind, 390 MW concentrated solar, and 14 MW from photovoltaic solar plants.

Eskom’s available generating capacity during last night’s peak was 27,836 MW.

The power utility announced Stage 2 load-shedding on Easter Sunday, beginning at 17:00 and ending at 05:00 on Wednesday.

It is unclear whether this schedule remains in effect or if Eskom will extend load-shedding in addition to increasing the stage.

Eskom said it would release a full statement soon.

“The power system remains unpredictable, and Eskom would like to inform the public that any further deterioration in generation capacity may require higher stages of load-shedding,” Eskom warned.

“We, therefore, request the public to continue using electricity sparingly, as we strive to return units to service.”

“Regretfully, Eskom has been forced to implement Stage 4 load shedding at 07:20 [today] after Majuba Unit 5 and Tutuka Unit 4 tripped,” the power utility said in tweet on Monday morning.

Eskom resumed load shedding on Sunday afternoon following additional generation unit losses and the delayed return to service of generators.

On Sunday, the loss of four additional generation units at Matla, Tutuka, Duvha and Arnot power stations, exacerbated by the delay in units returning to service at Camden, Matla, Grootvlei and Tutuka power stations, necessitated the implementation of Stage 2 load shedding.

Since Friday afternoon, a generation unit each at Camden, Komati and Arnot power stations returned to service. – SAnews.gov.za

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.