Eskom increasingly being used as a secondary electricity source

[Daniel Puchert]

Eskom becoming South Africa's battery

The surge in solar power adoption in South Africa is resulting in Eskom increasingly being used as a secondary electricity source and making it difficult to forecast load-shedding probabilities.

That is according to feedback from Eskom CEO Dan Marokane during the power utility's 2025 Winter Outlook briefing.

 

[Lupus]

At least it is still being used, instead of you know not being used right? You're still getting money out of it.

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

what did you think was gonna happen when you load shed at a moments notice, lie constantly hike prices and generally supply a crappy service,

people will looks elsewhere, especially if its mission critical,

 

[PhireSide]

At least it is still being used, instead of you know not being used right? You're still getting money out of it.

The sun could go out and everyone's generators could blow up so the entire country is 100% reliant on them and they would still find something to complain about.

 

[JimM]

We invested in solar because of Eskom's inability to provide a stable supply. The problem is that Eskom don't know how to operate as a power provider!

In the UK, in the old analog TV days, the power provider would monitor TV for advertising breaks so they could increase capacity for kettles being switched on! This is called operating efficiency! Unlike Eskom's sitting on your fat bum doing nothing except waiting to switch the power off!

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

We invested in solar because of Eskom's inability to provide a stable supply. The problem is that Eskom don't know how to operate as a power provider!

In the UK, in the old analog TV days, the power provider would monitor TV for advertising breaks so they could increase capacity for kettles being switched on! This is called operating efficiency! Unlike Eskom's sitting on your fat bum doing nothing except waiting to switch the power off!

inefficiency and lies are eskoms main pillars, dont you remember the 200K mops, the revalations by the ex CEO, how they hunted his down,

I'm sure there are plenty more, only thing is nobody is brave enough, unlike ADR to reveal them.

 

[Lupus]

The sun could go out and everyone's generators could blow up so the entire country is 100% reliant on them and they would still find something to complain about.

Exactly, I'm pretty sure a few years ago they were complaining people were using too much.

 

[B-1]

A problem of their own doing and likely will be used to punish those users mitigating against the poor performance. As long as I have a way to disconnect from them entirely and not fund their corrupt mess I'd happily comply.

 

[Gazg]

Err well Mr CEO, there shouldn't even be loadshedding to begin with.

 

[Smiggles]

Lol it's hard to predict winter = cloud = rain = wet coal = loadshedding?

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

Err well Mr CEO, there shouldn't even be loadshedding to begin with.

this, what did they expect people to do, electricity should NEVER EVER go off,
there isnt a legitimate reason, except as a last resort, and that already means they didnt build capacity adequetly.

 

[system32]

Eskom’s latest estimates put peak “behind-the-meter” private rooftop solar capacity in South Africa at roughly 6,200MW.

Imagine if the excess from Home Solar was encouraged to feed the grid...

In my case, by noon, my battery is full, but it's too much red tape, registration, new meter, tou tariff and costs to feed the excess to the grid.

 

[Alain Craven]

Allow feed in to grid without the high costs and red tape.
Then come back to us

 

[Lupus]

Lol it's hard to predict winter = cloud = rain = wet coal = loadshedding?

Nope, for Mpumalanga it's spring/summer/autumn = cloud = rain = wet coal, hence why that excuse only pops up around that time.

 

[Lupus]

Imagine if the excess from Home Solar was encouraged to feed the grid...

In my case, by noon, my battery is full, but it's too much red tape, registration, new meter, tou tariff and costs to feed the excess to the grid.
View attachment 1818828

Problem is, demand from that point isn't that high, it's only high from 5am to 10am and 4pm to about 10pm.
This is the supply from Eskom

 

[konfab]

Imagine if the excess from Home Solar was encouraged to feed the grid...

In my case, by noon, my battery is full, but it's too much red tape, registration, new meter, tou tariff and costs to feed the excess to the grid.
View attachment 1818828

That is nice.

Except for one small problem:

 

[wingnut771]

Problem is, demand from that point isn't that high, it's only high from 5am to 10am and 4pm to about 10pm.
This is the supply from Eskom
View attachment 1818847

and they were already pumping 1.2GW of water back at noon time. Only another 1.2GW and then will have to throttle back solar or else grid goes boom.

 

[Lupus]

and they were already pumping 1.2GW of water back at noon time. Only another 1.2GW and then will have to throttle back solar or else grid goes boom.

Yup, grid needs a fine balance, the Spanish learnt that

 

[Flanders]

Imagine if the excess from Home Solar was encouraged to feed the grid...

In my case, by noon, my battery is full, but it's too much red tape, registration, new meter, tou tariff and costs to feed the excess to the grid.
View attachment 1818828

That reserve must have come in handy during all the kak weather we've had.

I had to do a lot of micro management in March and April to try and ensure full batteries by sunset.

 

[RaptorSA]

“When you have the combination of other reliability issues and that additional demand that’s coming through from this grouping [private solar power users], it adds to the strain on the system.”

I have age-old comments on here predicting exactly that this would happen loooong before solar and backup systems became mainstream. Can I also become an Eskom CEO now? I smoke enough to be able to handle a bit of cyanide.