Eskom Chairman Mteto Nyati dismisses claims that the current absence of load shedding is due to political pressure ahead of the upcoming election, attributing it to the success of the maintenance strategy implemented over a year ago.
- Eskom began implementing strong planned maintenance across selected power stations in March last year, enduring short-term pain and higher stages of load shedding to address equipment issues.
- The maintenance initiative, now in its second year, has resulted in a significant reduction in unplanned maintenance and a decrease in unplanned outages from 19GW to 13GW.
- Eskom halved its budget for open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs) in line with its financial plan. The load factor for OCGTs dropped from 18% to 9% for the current financial year.
- Nyati acknowledges various theories regarding Eskom’s improved generation capacity but emphasizes the absence of concrete evidence to support them.
- Eskom CEO Dan Marokane will unveil the power utility’s winter plan, providing insight into the expected severity of load shedding during the upcoming winter season.
- Nyati assures the public that Eskom’s winter plan will be significantly better than the previous year, reflecting the company’s ongoing efforts to improve its operations.