Missing in action: What is Eskom boss André de Ruyter doing in Washington?

Eskom group CEO André de Ruyter has been conspicuously missing in action these past few weeks.

De Ruyter’s absence was questioned in the face of further breakdowns leading to stage 4 load shedding earlier on Wednesday morning.

Just energy transition talks

The power utility confirmed in a briefing that de Ruyter was in Washington, meeting with the World Bank and other stakeholders regarding South Africa’s just energy transition.

Back in November, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a historic partnership with the governments of France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as the European Union, to support a just transition to a low carbon economy and a climate-resilient society in South Africa.

Through the political declaration, partner countries are mobilising an initial R131 billion ($8.5 billion) over the next three to five years through a range of instruments, including grants and concessional finance, to support the implementation of the just transition to low carbon.

The highly concessional finance is expected to accelerate investment in renewable energy and the development of new sectors such as electric vehicles and green hydrogen. 

This will provide a significant boost to investment and growth, while ensuring Eskom can access resources to finance the repurposing of coal-fired power stations due for decommissioning over the next 15 years.

“The CEO is attending to important aspects of our transition from coal to green energy,” said Eskom COO Jan Oberholzer.

Oberholzer said de Ruyter could not be expected to deal with every generator failure that often breaks down unpredictably.

“That is why Philip (Dukashe) and I are here.”

De Ruyter’s meeting could not come sooner for his management team, who are under immense pressure every time there is a system breakdown.

Presently, total breakdowns amount to 15 439MW, while planned maintenance is 5 505MW of capacity. 

Who should be fired?

When asked whose head should roll over consistent system breakdowns, Oberholzer reiterated Eskom’s technical teams had been working round the clock to repair breakdowns and continue with a demanding maintenance schedule.

“Our people are overworked and fatigued,” he said.

“We are sitting with a system that has been neglected and we have been begging for additional capacity. 

“We are doing our best, not to just have an axe to our heads,” said Oberholzer.

In the past, de Ruyter has not been shy about shaming poor and incompetent management at the country’s power stations. 

During stage 4 load shedding in November last year, he revealed management at the Majuba plant had poorly executed its rain-readiness strategy, which impacts generation operations at the plant.

The rain-readiness strategy is meant to mitigate the effects of rainy weather at coal fire stations, especially those with open conveyor belts for coal.

De Ruyter at the time was adamant the situation at Majuba was not human error but managerial incompetence, saying that Eskom would not shy away from consequence management.

Load shedding legacy and what has been done

2022 marks 15 years of load shedding, and de Ruyter is the 15th CEO appointed at the embattled power utility in as many years.

De Ruyter and the Eskom teams have consistently reiterated their calls for 4 000 to 6 000 MW of additional generational capacity.

Those pleas can only be answered by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE)

In June last year, the DMRE Ministry published the proposed amendments to the Electricity Regulation Act, 2006, essentially enabling businesses and individuals to generate up to 100MW of electricity without a license from National Electricity Regulator South Africa.

The private generation capacity of up to 1 00MW is exempted for a licence generation, provided the generator complies with the distribution and transmission code and has a point of connection.

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