Ramokgopa to visit Medupi and Matimba Power Stations as Eskom reports progress
Image: Timothy Barnard /Independent Newspapers
Electricity and Energy Minister, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, will visit Medupi and Matimba Power Stations, Eskom said on Monday.
The power utility said the visit formed part of the continued oversight on Eskom's Generation Recovery Plan, with a focus on improving the reliability and performance of its power plants to end load shedding and ensure a more stable electricity supply.
"This is to celebrate the early return to service of Unit 4, now contributing 800MW of capacity to the national grid, reinforcing the goals of the Generation Recovery Plan and offer the minister an opportunity to receive an update on the Control and Instrumentation refurbishment project at Matimba," Eskom Spokesperson, Daphne Mokwena said.
Ramokgopa is expected to give South Africans an update on power system status, operational improvements, and the Generation Recovery Plan, and to also engage the Generation Group Executive.
Ramokgopa is expected to provide another update on power system performance on Friday; however, the utility has committed to communicate any unplanned developments before.
This comes at the back of the utility making strides in stabilising its power system with an improved Energy Availability Factor (EAF), ensuring reliability during peak electricity demand.
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South Africa has been spared of load shedding since May 15, Business Report recently reported that Eskom's generation fleet is steering towards greater stability, with 57% of its 14 coal-fired power stations now functioning at an EAF exceeding 70%, with three stations having surpassed a 90% operational efficiency.
This is a great move towards relieving South Africans of their long struggle with load shedding, which has often been associated with a lot of undesired conditions, i.e, crime, damage to household appliances, and business failures.
The utility's winter outlook, as published in May, indicated that load shedding will not be necessary as long as unplanned outages stay under 13,000 MW. According to the power utility, load shedding gets implemented as a last resort to prevent a total collapse of the power grid.
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