Expect electricity problems for at least a year: Eskom
The power system will remain tight until the Medupi and Kusile power stations start producing power, in over a year, Eskom said on Monday.
“Power supply will ease once Kusile and Medupi are online and producing power… and that will take between 12 and 18 months,” chief executive Tshediso Matona told reporters in Johannesburg.
Medupi, in Limpopo, was expected to be online by December 24.
“We may not meet the target, and could see Medupi coming online in early January. We expect to see full power production from Medupi within six months thereafter.”
Work on getting the Majuba station in Mpumalanga to full capacity was continuing.
“An average of 1800MW is being fed to the national grid per day. Following the collapse of a silo, five units are running fully,” he said.
Majuba was able to generate 2900MW during peak periods, he said.
Eskom group executive Matshela Koko said he led an investigation into the collapse of the Majuba silo.
“Majuba is urgent… yes, we had a second crack at Majuba, and we will soon take the public into confidence,” Koko said.
Matona said the blackouts were affected customers in neighbouring countries.
“There is a perception that we loadshed but continue supplying neighbours with electricity. That is not so, cross-border customers are also affected.”
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