Recent statements by the Electricity Minister, President, and Deputy President have created a false impression that load-shedding increased due to higher-than-usual maintenance at Eskom, South Africa’s power utility company.
- President Ramaphosa characterized the current stage 6 load-shedding as “short-term pain for longer-term gain,” attributing it to necessary maintenance and the repositioning of Eskom’s power generation fleet.
- However, an analysis of Eskom’s capacity loss due to planned maintenance reveals that the statements are misleading. The data shows that Eskom is actually conducting slightly less maintenance than in the previous year.
- The Ministry of Electricity acknowledged that minimal maintenance was done at Eskom’s coal-fired power stations in recent years, as plans were in place to shut down many of these stations without sufficient alternative energy generation.
- To improve performance, Eskom now needs to undertake intensive maintenance at these stations, resulting in heightened levels of load-shedding.
- Deputy President Paul Mashatile confirmed that extensive maintenance was being carried out to alleviate ongoing power cuts in the long run.
- The Ministry emphasized that delaying the shutdown of coal power stations and fast-tracking the introduction of renewables necessitated increased maintenance, leading to the current elevated levels of load-shedding.