As the power crisis escalates, power utility Eskom will this week approach independent power producers (IPPs) to procure 1 000MW to add to the grid.
Eskom CEO André de Ruyter announced the company’s plan yesterday, saying from today, the power utility will approach IPPs like Sasol and Sappi, and he envisages the additional capacity will be added to the grid within two weeks.
The move comes two days after the utility announced that five of its generating units, with a combined capacity of 2 400MW, failed over the weekend, leading to higher levels of power cuts.
Generating units at Kusile, Arnot, Camden, as well as two other at Duvha Power Station, tripped between Friday night and early Saturday, prompting Eskom to hold an urgent media briefing yesterday to provide a roadmap on power cuts for the week ahead.
The company said emergency generation reserves had been depleted by extensive utilisation to limit the amount of load-shedding over the past two weeks.
The power situation in the country is now dire, as some places are going without power for up to eight hours due to limitless challenges faced by the company. Tight maintenance backlogs have also added pressure.
As of yesterday, Eskom had 7 210MW on planned maintenance, while another 16 597MW of capacity is still unavailable due to breakdowns.
To take the edge off, De Ruyter said Eskom will turn to IPPs from today.
“We had a meeting yesterday [Saturday] which included minister [Pravin] Gordhan. Tomorrow [Monday] we approach the market to procure whatever megawatts are available on an urgent basis. We think that we can get about 1 000MW from available generation capacity,” he said.
“We have units out on planned maintenance of 7 062MW. We have unit loses and partial load losses where we are running the unit, but factors constrain us from using that unit at full capacity. The system has been under pressure, as everybody knows, since last week.”
The Eskom boss is a firm believer that in the longer term, generation of independent power will be positive for the country, as it produces additional electricity that can be beneficial in the current environment.
Eskom’s move to approach private power producers comes on the back of growing calls to turn to renewables as the country’s electricity situation deteriorates further.
Just over a week ago, government amended the request for proposal to increase the megawatt allocation under Bid Window 6 (BW6) of the renewable energy procurement programme.
This, as the state is on the back foot, and is urgently looking to end load-shedding and achieve energy security through the bid window.
The capacity to be procured currently under BW6 will now increase from 2 600MW to 4 200MW, according to government.
Business Unity SA today urged an expedited approach on procurement of additional capacity from independent producers.
CEO Busisiwe Mavuso lamented the stagnated pace of implementing the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPP), saying the country has been “running into trouble” of late with numerous delays to the bid windows, which means the energy scheduled to come onto the grid in roughly two years won’t materialise.
“For the emergency energy crisis plan to reach its targets to end load-shedding in two years, we must get the procurement process back to the levels of excellence of the early years of the REIPPP,” she writes in her weekly newsletter.
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