De Ruyter: Complying with air quality rules could plunge South Africa into stage 15 power cuts

Renewables as the soles sources for power generation is the ideal that will only happens decades down the road.
We live in the present and the fact is that we currently can't live with carbon based or nuclear power generation, SA is particularly bad since we are missing thousands of MW even for base load and our plants are old except medupi and kusile which are problems prone themselves... I would say we need to build 2 more nuclear plants quick, but eskom don't have the time nor money, load shedding is here to stay for the foreseeable future, getting off grid is probably the only thing we can do...
 
We need more coal and OCGT power stations. Renewables CANNOT meet baseload demand as they are nowhere near reliable enough. We abandoned our Nuclear modular pebble bed reactors which would have been affordable, so Coal and Gas are our only options.
Can you go CCGT please rather.
Much more efficient.
 
Eskom CEO warns of stage 15 load-shedding

Unless South Africa aggressively invests in renewable energy and relaxes air quality standards, Eskom’s models show it might need to implement stage 15 load-shedding.

This was the warning from Eskom CEO André de Ruyter, who spoke at the Africa Renewables Investment Summit in Cape Town, News24 reported.
Just speak the truth andre an why eskom get paid so alot but we hv loadshedding .makes no sense

See there is absolutely nothing wrong with Eskom. And the evidence and answers lie in the fact that they supply power to seven countries from the same power generation units,

Zimbabwe
Lesotho
Eswatini
Namibia
Botswana
Mozambique
Zambia

Now let's ask the question, if eskom really has power generation problems, why aren't these seven countries sitting with loadshedding like us? Remember, they also get power from Eskom, exactly the same power generation units as us. So, if Eskom really has problems then these seven countries must also suffer from load shedding like we do every day, and they don't even know load shedding. Ask people who live there if they get loadshedding. They will answer you, not at all. They also get the power cheaper than us.

Loadshedding is linked to money. Every time your power is turned on, electrical devices draw 3 times the full load current, this is called a "peak." For example, you draw 60 amps at full load but for a fraction of a second when the power is turned on under load, you draw 180 amps. So every time the power is switched on you draw 3x the full load current and your bill is determined from "peak" to "peak". So let's say you pay R1 an amp, so R60, but because they use the "peak" you pay R180. So your power consumption is less but your unit you use now costs you more. In other words you get less power but now pay more for it. Go to work 2 hours x 3 a day. 180 hours a month of less power consumption, but you pay exactly the same as if you had no power interruptions. So if you pay R1200 a month for 720 hours of use, you still pay R1200 for 540 hours of power consumption and sometimes more. "Less is more". Just go and test the fact, you will quickly realize that Eskom and the ANC are lying and deceiving us. And the ANC controls Eskom, Eskom only executes orders because it is state-owned...
 
I keep on being reminded that De Ruiter was approved by the ANC to lead Eskom.
Even though he was way down on the list, he must have given them what they asked for. Thus a commitment to tow their line and not make huge waves.

For that reason alone he is just a mouthpiece of the ANC. A puppet with their hand up his backside.

What has he done in 2.5 years to improve the power generation capacity at Eskom?
So, a team somewhere in Eskom (de Ruiter is not an auditor or investigator) found a couple of corrupt officials.
Whoop dee doo. There are a 1000 more possibly.
So what has he DONE to improve compliance in the company, to motivate those staff that want to do better?

We all know he does not directly manage the power stations, just like he doesn't personally look for crooks in Eskom. So why is he praised for the latter as a good leader, but given a pass for the former?

What tangible effect have we seen of improvements in the reliability of stations? Surely as a CEO he should be able to get his management team to put measures (checks and balances and operating procedures) in place to figure out where the problems are and how to tackle them.
The result of that would have been improvement in stability.

Instead, what we actually see is more and more load-shedding. Whatever the reasons, he has failed in his duty as CEO. Him making statements about Stage 15 drips of incompetence and being "out of touch with his consumers" and consequently in my view he does not deserve to be CEO.

It reeks of fear mongering so that they get their 32% increase - and that would probably give him also a nice fat bonus to keep his house off the grid or even to get a nice nest egg somewhere.

The economy will collapse totally, whether from load shedding or from extremely high tarriifs.

Tell us what he should do under the current market conditions?

Since you seem to have the answers, I am quite sure you can easily tell us how a company that is technically bankrupt can improve power generation capabilities without access to the required capital, or any of the skills required?

The solution lies in government's hands. Eskom is dead in the water. Seems like people are slow in realizing this.
 
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Here is the problem. I know someone who works at Eskom in a fairly high position. He works in a department that procures consumables. He needs to make sure everything is done right. From purchasing to getting the items to where they need to go. He says it is like pissing into the wind. Trying to deal with a lot of the employees is like dealing with juvenile delinquents. A lot of cadres and him being from Venda he meets a lot of resistance. Try disciplining any of these tonsils and he gets threatened. Report the situation to higher ups and the same result.
The cadres are embedded and want to be left alone to steal and pillage Eskom in peace.

I was approached for a position in Eskom procurement years back. I laughed at the person who was trying to head hunt me and put the phone down on her.

I can only imagine how bad it gets. I have been behind some massive procurement before, and even in non-political organisations it is a minefield. One of the most stressful jobs I have had.
 

Just speak the truth andre an why eskom get paid so alot but we hv loadshedding .makes no sense

See there is absolutely nothing wrong with Eskom. And the evidence and answers lie in the fact that they supply power to seven countries from the same power generation units,

Zimbabwe
Lesotho
Eswatini
Namibia
Botswana
Mozambique
Zambia

Now let's ask the question, if eskom really has power generation problems, why aren't these seven countries sitting with loadshedding like us? Remember, they also get power from Eskom, exactly the same power generation units as us. So, if Eskom really has problems then these seven countries must also suffer from load shedding like we do every day, and they don't even know load shedding. Ask people who live there if they get loadshedding. They will answer you, not at all. They also get the power cheaper than us.

Loadshedding is linked to money. Every time your power is turned on, electrical devices draw 3 times the full load current, this is called a "peak." For example, you draw 60 amps at full load but for a fraction of a second when the power is turned on under load, you draw 180 amps. So every time the power is switched on you draw 3x the full load current and your bill is determined from "peak" to "peak". So let's say you pay R1 an amp, so R60, but because they use the "peak" you pay R180. So your power consumption is less but your unit you use now costs you more. In other words you get less power but now pay more for it. Go to work 2 hours x 3 a day. 180 hours a month of less power consumption, but you pay exactly the same as if you had no power interruptions. So if you pay R1200 a month for 720 hours of use, you still pay R1200 for 540 hours of power consumption and sometimes more. "Less is more". Just go and test the fact, you will quickly realize that Eskom and the ANC are lying and deceiving us. And the ANC controls Eskom, Eskom only executes orders because it is state-owned...
...and what's the point of the post above? What exactly are you getting too?
 
Just speak the truth andre an why eskom get paid so alot but we hv loadshedding .makes no sense

See there is absolutely nothing wrong with Eskom. And the evidence and answers lie in the fact that they supply power to seven countries from the same power generation units,

Zimbabwe
Lesotho
Eswatini
Namibia
Botswana
Mozambique
Zambia

Now let's ask the question, if eskom really has power generation problems, why aren't these seven countries sitting with loadshedding like us?
You think places like Zim don't get loadshedding?

Oh boy have I got news for you.
 
You think places like Zim don't get loadshedding?

Oh boy have I got news for you.
...and Botswana is selling excess capacity THEY generate back to Eskom.
Namibia loses 5% of electricity for every stage we go to. I doubt that information is entirely accurate.
 
Tell us what he should do under the current market conditions?

Since you seem to have the answers, I am quite sure you can easily tell us how a company that is technically bankrupt can improve power generation capabilities without access to the required capital, or any of the skills required?

The solution lies in government's hands. Eskom is dead in the water. Seems like people are slow in realizing this.
Yup, I also agree, how much could a CEO really do with eskom's debt level, fleet of old and poorly maintained plants, bunch of non-paying customers, he did manage to reduce eskom's debt which was a pretty good achievement, but that's only if he did not manage this feat by cutting down maintenance budget.

I think this stage 15 thing is essentially his only card to play to publicly announce that eskom cannot meet the environmental regulation since negotiations with government is not going well behind closed doors, so put the ball back in the government's court. I would probably do the same if I am in his shoe, there is simply not enough base load capacity to take off a plant for months to retrofit nor do they have the money / time to do all this, I imagine their hands are pretty full trying to repair the break downs already. And to be honest, I would rather build more plants if I have the cash.

He was probably over confident when he made the "wait 18 months patiently" promise though, and I wish he came out with some plans to build more nuclear plants instead of only investing in renewables.

Overall, I think he was slightly better than the previous CEOs, nothing exceptional though, he did what I would realistically expects with the cards dealt, it was just that the expectations placed on him were unrealistic because of what he himself promised at the start. I just hope he doesn't get a golden handshake if he does get sacked, because he doesn't really deserve it and it is gonna set another bad precedent.
 
At first I chuckled, and then I got mad.

They are attacking the original News24/Fin24 article, and there really wasn't anything wrong with their headline - "SA needs more renewables, or Stage 15 load shedding will be a reality – De Ruyter"

They later changed that to "Eskom risks unprecedented load shedding if it meets air quality standards immediately - De Ruyter"... probably after Eskom put pressure on them to change it.


If De Ruyter doesn't want the press to report on something he said then he shouldn't say it.

What did he think was going to happen when he uttered the words "Stage 15"?

Villainising the media is not a good look. It puts you in very bad company.

Also, I know folks are just having a good-natured laugh about it here. This rant is aimed at De Ruyter's comments, not your jokes :)

FWIW: Our article made it clear from the first line what the context was of his Stage 15 statement.

It's simple maths. If you have to switch off 16GW to comply with air quality standards and you were roughly 1GW away from load-shedding, then you have to implement Stage 15. Not rocket science.
 
it's time to drag government and their families into the street and show them FIRST HAND what they are doing to everyone else. has SA become SO WEAK that we can't stop these terrorists.?? who told them prescribe to what the EU and WEF etc want???
 
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