Some points mentioned so far.
Eskom did not inform the President.
The latest loadshedding is totally unplanned and unexpected
A single conveyor breakdown pushed them over the edge
OGT and Pumped schemes were extensively used from Sunday night peak and Monday morning. Eskom hoped units will return in time which did not happen. More units went offline for planned maintenance and were not able to be brought back to service.
Acting CEO did not apply for the job so if he is failing it's up to the public and the president to decide.
Stage 1 loadshedding tomorrow. No expected loadshedding the weekend.
UPDATE:
Eksom Acting CEO say hopefully new CEO will step in end of the month. He is hinting that he might not be qualified for the job
Eskom has spent less on on Diesel from March to date. Estimate to be less than R500 million. Last financial year they have spent R5 billion on diesel alone. Diesel tanks needs to get refueled by truck loads and it's a logistical nightmare to get done quickly.
*Conveyor belt snapped. Belt carries 4000 tons of coal. The weight and the way the belt snapped cause some structural damage that needs to be repaired. Hence the extended repair time.
*Eskom spoke to the minister since the weekend. Eskom did speak and brief the President and deputy president today.
Eskom capacity explained:
47 000MW Installed Capacity of different technologies of which 3500MW is Open Gas trubines. 2500MW is pumped storage. 1500MW is imported capacity and varying base line capacies.
30 000MW expected demand
~4000MW planned outages
~2000MW emergency reserve
~10000MW unplanned outages
Certain technologies like Gas turbines and Pumped storage as well as 2000MW emergency reserve are capacities not available to be run during normal operation as they are reserves. They are costly and inefficient. IF any baseline (expected normal available capcity) fails these are used as backup and thus can not be seen as always available even though they contribute to the 47 000MW installed capacity. There if unexpected breakdowns happen in a sort amount of time with planned maintenance there will be a shortage of capacity available. Loadshedding is a last resort to prevent units tripping due to overload. Any outage that will push the total outage more than 9500MW will mean danger zone and Eskom will implement loadshedding.
Pumped storage takes a whole weekend to replenish. One pumped scheme has 4 units. Total dam volume allows 102 hours. Running 4 units means one pumped scheme can run a max of 25 hours give or take. Water can only be pumped back during 1am and 4am. Eskom runs max during peak periods if necessary. Efficiency is ~75% meaning it cost significantly more to pump water back than it generates.
Eskom experiences a vacuum phenomena that is affecting the efficiency of 3 of it's coal fire power stations. The 3 power stations are Matimba, Majuba and Tutuka. This phenomena happens only in summer with high temperatures where the cooling fans can not pick up enough cool air to push through the cooling towers to cool down turbines efficiently. The system in these power stations are designed to gradually reduce output power to prevent the turbines from overheating. During hot summer days these systems do not perform optimally and is seen as a loss to generating power an unplanned outage or reduction in output power.
Summer is also a period where Eskom pushes for more aggressive plant maintenance. Units taken down for planned maintenance takes a couple of days to be brought back online.
Eskom has a mandate to provide the best quality electricity at the lowest price. Eskom has not managed to implement plans to build power stations on coal mines to avoid having to outsource sourcing of coal and coal contracts. This has pushed up the expenses and Eskom is asking for a rate that is relative to the cost of generating electricity as set in the model by NERSA. If NERSA does not allow these increases Eskom will then ask the courts to force NERSA to revise these tariffs and the model.
Boiler tube leak defection system detects leaks and then takes the unit offline for maintenance. IF leak detection is accurate downtime is minimal. If not there can be extensive tube damage due to the pressure causing extended downtime. Eskom currently uses the original manufactures of the boilers to maintain and repair the boiler tube leaks.
Money is not the reason for loadshedding. Money shortage is not the problem when it comes to maintenance and parts. IF Eskom's financial situation was much better it would not have had any impact on the situation they are currently facing. Briefing was held at OR Tambo due to Acting CEO returning from East London.
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