Eskom’s maintenance drive over long-weekend a success
...but, power system remains constrained during peak hours (5pm to 9pm).
It is somewhat hard to believe the country last experienced load shedding on Friday 24 April – this because Eskom successfully performed the first part of its planned maintenance drive over the long-weekend.
Plans are in place to continue with the drive this coming weekend the electricity giant said on Tuesday.
“Eskom’s maintenance teams worked hard over the long-weekend and were able to perform planned maintenance on 2 303 MW of generating plant. They further, also returned 1 643 MW of generating capacity back to service over this period. The focus of the maintenance festival is to ensure long-term reliability of the plant as well as restore units that are currently offline due to technical faults,” Eskom’s acting Chief Executive Brian Molefe said.
The generating units that were taken out for scheduled maintenance include Komati Unit 4 (91 MW); Ankerlig Unit 41 (147 MW); Kriel Unit 5 (475 MW); Kendal Unit 1 (640 MW); Camden Unit 2 (190 MW); Camden Unit 3 (185 MW); and Matla Unit 4 (575 MW). The units that have been returned back online are Komati Unit 4 (91 MW); Camden Unit 2 (190 MW); Ankerlig Unit 41 (147 MW); Kendal Unit 1 (640 MW); and Matla Unit 4 (575 MW).
The power system continues to remain significantly constrained and will be so for the rest of this week. We are currently not load shedding, but the power system remains tight all day, particularly during this evening’s peak period between 5pm and 9pm as the power system demand profile moves towards a more typical winter profile.
“We would like to thank all electricity users for responding to our message to save. Every little bit of saving counts in reducing the need to implement load shedding,” Molefe added.
Eskom calls on all customers to continue reducing the load on the electricity grid by switching off geysers, air conditioners, pool pumps and all non-essential appliances throughout the day, which will reduce electricity demand. As the nights begin to get colder, we request electricity users to consider energy efficient ways of keeping warm.
Eskom will provide regular updates on the status of the power system through all the media platforms.
