André de Ruyter explains why there is no load-shedding
Former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter says load-shedding has been suspended because three factors are working together to boost the power utility’s generating output and reduce demand on the grid.
Speaking to renowned economist Dawie Roodt on KykNet’s onbytSAKE programme, De Ruyter reiterated many of the points he made at the September BizNews Investment Conference.
De Ruyter explained that a largely unacknowledged contributor to ending load-shedding was the massive amounts of rooftop solar and battery backups private individuals and businesses have deployed.
At the same time, large generating units at several different power stations have come online, and Eskom has been allowed to spend much more money on diesel generation.
“There was a project to replace the steam generators at Koeberg 1 and 2. That’s two times 920 megawatts (MW). That project is essentially complete and is delivering to the grid.”
De Ruyter said that the Koeberg long-term operation life extension project was initiated before his time, so he would not take credit for it. It was just a matter of timing, he said.
It should be noted that both units of the Koeberg nuclear power station have not been online simultaneously during this load-shedding-free period in South Africa.
In early September, Eskom said that Koeberg Unit 1 has reached a critical stage in its return to service, with refuelling underway.
Only once that is completed will the unit come back online and contribute its 930MW back to the national grid, reinforcing energy supply for the summer period.
Koeberg’s Unit 2 generator must be shut down again before its nuclear operating licence expires in November 2025. During the shutdown, it will undergo post-replacement testing.
De Ruyter was not asked about the bungling of Koeberg’s initial shutdown during his time at Eskom, which has resulted in an adverse court ruling against the power utility.
Among the issues was that Eskom had not constructed a shed on the premises where the steam generators could be stored by deadline.
The High Court ordered Eskom to pay nearly R1 billion to French nuclear contractor Framatome in compensation for its role in delaying the Koeberg long-term maintenance project.
In addition to the timing of the Koeberg life extension project, De Ruyter highlighted the problem at Kusile units 1, 2, and 3, which has since been resolved.
“Eskom had issues where the flue gas desulphurisation unit collapsed. Those units were put out of commission. Three times 800 megawatts (2.4GW) came back and are now contributing to the grid,” De Ruyter said.
“Kusile 5 and 6 reached beneficial operation. They are now connected to the grid and contributing. Medupi 4, which exploded spectacularly, that was put back.”
De Ruyter said returning these units to service was not easy. “So credit to the hardworking men and women of Eskom for continuing to fight quite a tough fight to get these units back,” he said.
Unacknowledged impact of private solar
While adding several large coal and nuclear generating units was part of the equation, De Ruyter said the impact of private solar generation is overlooked.
“What is often omitted is the fact that the private sector, in a period of 18 months, added 6.1 gigawatts. That’s about the size of one-and-a-half Medupis, which took 15 years to build,” he said.
“You can see that every time it’s overcast and cloudy in Gauteng, the system starts to wobble. It’s because of that contribution.”
De Ruyter said this showed that the private sector solves problems. He said free market reforms could unleash the private sector in South Africa, including in electricity generation.
The third factor that has helped end load-shedding is that Eskom has been allowed to spend much more on diesel than in the past.
This has allowed the utility to run its open-cycle gas turbine power stations much more frequently, despite their cost.
“When I was at Eskom, we were allowed to burn about R5 billion of diesel a year, which is a lot, and I felt bad for it because it’s very, very expensive electricity that we generate,” De Ruyter said.
“The latest budget is sitting in the region of about R23–R24 billion. That’s not affordable. It costs about R6/kWh to generate electricity from diesel. So if you’ve got unlimited money to throw at diesel, then problems magically go away.”
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