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Many South Africans have gone off the grid because of the country's challenge with electricity supply. This week Eskom implemented stage 6 , after a number of unit failures at the Camden, Majuba and Medupi power stations. The three days of loadshedding was more than enough to remind South Africa that the country is not out of the woods yet. Amid load shedding, South Africans have become victims of solar equipment fraud. The Consumer Goods and Services Ombud (CGSO) has previously issued an alert that it received a number of complaints about solar systems and generators and cautioned South Africans about falling for solar equipment scams amid the power outage. For more Udo Carelse spoke to Lee Soobrathi, Consumer Goods and Services Ombudsman.

Eskom has announced that it may reduce the current Stage 6 loadshedding to a lower stage today. The reprieve comes after the utility managed to restore units at the Majuba, Medupi, and Camden power stations, which had failed, causing the country to plunge into darkness since Friday. To discuss the implications of this development Elvis Presslin spoke to Kevin Mileham, DA Spokesperson on Electricity & Energy

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a leading supplier of products, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation. State-owned electricity utility Eskom will reduce planned maintenance to 3 000 MW during the upcoming winter season and will seek to keep unplanned breakdowns to below 14 000 MW in a bid to navigate the high-demand period with limited loadshedding. During the summer period, from September to the end of March, the utility set a target of restricting unplanned breakdowns to 14 500 MW during the high-maintenance summer months, when average planned maintenance levels of 7 000 MW were targeted. During those periods when breakdowns exceeded the target, loadshedding was typically implemented, at times at high levels of intensity of between Stage 4 and 6. While the winter outlook was still being finalised, Eskom Generation's Eric Shunmagum confirmed during a briefing on the implementation of the Energy Action Plan that it should be released later this month. He also confirmed that the diesel budget for the 2024/25 financial year would be below the R30-billion set aside for the operation of the Eskom and independent power producer open-cycle gas turbines in 2023/24; a budget that he confirmed had been marginally exceeded, without providing specifics. The diesel budget for the current financial year, meanwhile, would be communicated at a future briefing. Speaking amid a sustained period during which Eskom had not resorted to loadshedding, Shunmagum stressed that the winter plan, as with previous plans, would contain three scenarios, with the base scenario likely to indicate only limited loadshedding for the period from April to the end of August. He also insisted that Eskom Generation would work to ensure that breakdowns were kept below the 14 000 MW level to further reduce the threat of loadshedding. However, the coal fleet remained unreliable with intense recovery work still under way at six priority stations, including Majuba, Matla, Duvha, Kendal, Tutuka and Kriel, which had replaced Kusile on the list after Kusile's performance was deemed to have recovered following the introduction of temporary stacks. EAF TARGET MISSED Meanwhile, Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa confirmed that the Eskom fleet failed to achieve the 65% energy availability factor (EAF) target set by the board for the end of March, coming in at only 54.6%. The performance was even below the 56% EAF reported by Eskom in its previous financial year. Nevertheless, Shunmagum described the target as non-negotiable and insisted that the 65% to 70% target remained intact for the current financial year. Ramokgopa attributed the failure to achieve the EAF target to "aggressive planned maintenance" efforts, which he said were prioritised ahead of lifting the EAF to closer to 60%. "Planned maintenance increased from 9.3% in FY2023 to 12.0% in FY2024 reinforcing the commitment to execute the recovery plans and reduce plant risks," he said. The Minister also insisted that various additional capacity was scheduled to be added or returned to service over the coming five months, including: Medupi Unit 4 in August, where a second-hand generator was being installed after a unit was crippled by a fire incident in August 2021; Koeberg Unit 2, which is currently scheduled to return from an extended outage in September; and Kusile Unit 6, which is also currently scheduled to be synchronised to the grid in September. "In the next five months, we should be able to get 2 583 MW of new generation capacity [from Eskom]," Ramokgopa said. He also played down concerns that up to 2 100 MW of Kusile capacity would be unavailable from November, when the three units that are currently bypassing the flue-gas desulphurisation (FGD) plant using temporary stacks, were scheduled to start being reconnected to the FDG through the west stack. The west stack was rendered inoperable when Kusile's Unit 1 flue duct collapsed because of an unco...

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a leading supplier of products, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation. State-owned electricity utility Eskom will reduce planned maintenance to 3 000 MW during the upcoming winter season and will seek to keep unplanned breakdowns to below 14 000 MW in a bid to navigate the high-demand period with limited loadshedding. During the summer period, from September to the end of March, the utility set a target of restricting unplanned breakdowns to 14 500 MW during the high-maintenance summer months, when average planned maintenance levels of 7 000 MW were targeted. During those periods when breakdowns exceeded the target, loadshedding was typically implemented, at times at high levels of intensity of between Stage 4 and 6. While the winter outlook was still being finalised, Eskom Generation's Eric Shunmagum confirmed during a briefing on the implementation of the Energy Action Plan that it should be released later this month. He also confirmed that the diesel budget for the 2024/25 financial year would be below the R30-billion set aside for the operation of the Eskom and independent power producer open-cycle gas turbines in 2023/24; a budget that he confirmed had been marginally exceeded, without providing specifics. The diesel budget for the current financial year, meanwhile, would be communicated at a future briefing. Speaking amid a sustained period during which Eskom had not resorted to loadshedding, Shunmagum stressed that the winter plan, as with previous plans, would contain three scenarios, with the base scenario likely to indicate only limited loadshedding for the period from April to the end of August. He also insisted that Eskom Generation would work to ensure that breakdowns were kept below the 14 000 MW level to further reduce the threat of loadshedding. However, the coal fleet remained unreliable with intense recovery work still under way at six priority stations, including Majuba, Matla, Duvha, Kendal, Tutuka and Kriel, which had replaced Kusile on the list after Kusile's performance was deemed to have recovered following the introduction of temporary stacks. EAF TARGET MISSED Meanwhile, Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa confirmed that the Eskom fleet failed to achieve the 65% energy availability factor (EAF) target set by the board for the end of March, coming in at only 54.6%. The performance was even below the 56% EAF reported by Eskom in its previous financial year. Nevertheless, Shunmagum described the target as non-negotiable and insisted that the 65% to 70% target remained intact for the current financial year. Ramokgopa attributed the failure to achieve the EAF target to "aggressive planned maintenance" efforts, which he said were prioritised ahead of lifting the EAF to closer to 60%. "Planned maintenance increased from 9.3% in FY2023 to 12.0% in FY2024 reinforcing the commitment to execute the recovery plans and reduce plant risks," he said. The Minister also insisted that various additional capacity was scheduled to be added or returned to service over the coming five months, including: Medupi Unit 4 in August, where a second-hand generator was being installed after a unit was crippled by a fire incident in August 2021; Koeberg Unit 2, which is currently scheduled to return from an extended outage in September; and Kusile Unit 6, which is also currently scheduled to be synchronised to the grid in September. "In the next five months, we should be able to get 2 583 MW of new generation capacity [from Eskom]," Ramokgopa said. He also played down concerns that up to 2 100 MW of Kusile capacity would be unavailable from November, when the three units that are currently bypassing the flue-gas desulphurisation (FGD) plant using temporary stacks, were scheduled to start being reconnected to the FDG through the west stack. The west stack was rendered inoperable when Kusile's Unit 1 flue duct collapsed because of an unco...

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a leading supplier of products, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation. Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says Eskom's new CEO, Dan Marokane, will offer a comprehensive outline of a revised generation recovery plan that will seek to integrate recommendations arising from various expert reports into the state of the coal power stations, including the hard-hitting Vgbe report commissioned by the National Treasury. However, Eskom Generation's Eric Shunmagum also reported "some inaccuracies" with the report's findings, which required further engagement with the National Treasury before the recommendations could be integrated. Without going into detail, Shunmagum indicated that the inaccuracies related to the report's assessment of the water treatment plants at Kusile and Medupi. "The report is being embraced. "However, there are some inaccuracies in the report, which we have formally responded to, and we will continue to work on with the National Treasury team." The Vgbe-led consortium assessed 14 coal stations between March and May last year and its subsequent report, which was released only last month, attributed their poor performance to a "dysfunctional" and overly complex management system within Eskom Generation. The report concluded that the solution lay in conducting operations and maintenance in line with industry standards and proposed a decentralisation of decision-making, including by providing power station managers with "full budget responsibility and accountability". It also recommended the "immediate establishment of an interim team of independent experts (outside of Eskom) that reports directly to National Treasury" for a period of between one-and-a-half and two years. Ramokgopa reported that the Ministry and Eskom had interrogated the report extensively, and he claimed that many of the issues raised were already being tackled under the prevailing generation recovery plan and through the National Energy Crisis Committee. He also stressed that the Vgbe report was but one report that was being considered by Marokane and Eskom as part of the review of the 'Generation Operational Recovery Plan'. The other assessments being considered included reports by WSP and the World Bank, as well as a Ministerial Diagnostic report. When Marokane officially assumed the role of CEO on March 1, chairperson Mteto Nyati indicated that the review of the Generation Operational Recovery Plan had been set as a priority for his first 100 days. On whether independent experts will be appointed as recommended, Ramakgopa said it would be a decision for Eskom to make as it was a "management decision". However, he noted that various experts had already been seconded to support Eskom under the partnership with Business for South Africa, with a particular focus on the six power stations of Duvha, Kendal, Kusile, Majuba, Matla and Tutuka.

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a leading supplier of products, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation. Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says Eskom's new CEO, Dan Marokane, will offer a comprehensive outline of a revised generation recovery plan that will seek to integrate recommendations arising from various expert reports into the state of the coal power stations, including the hard-hitting Vgbe report commissioned by the National Treasury. However, Eskom Generation's Eric Shunmagum also reported "some inaccuracies" with the report's findings, which required further engagement with the National Treasury before the recommendations could be integrated. Without going into detail, Shunmagum indicated that the inaccuracies related to the report's assessment of the water treatment plants at Kusile and Medupi. "The report is being embraced. "However, there are some inaccuracies in the report, which we have formally responded to, and we will continue to work on with the National Treasury team." The Vgbe-led consortium assessed 14 coal stations between March and May last year and its subsequent report, which was released only last month, attributed their poor performance to a "dysfunctional" and overly complex management system within Eskom Generation. The report concluded that the solution lay in conducting operations and maintenance in line with industry standards and proposed a decentralisation of decision-making, including by providing power station managers with "full budget responsibility and accountability". It also recommended the "immediate establishment of an interim team of independent experts (outside of Eskom) that reports directly to National Treasury" for a period of between one-and-a-half and two years. Ramokgopa reported that the Ministry and Eskom had interrogated the report extensively, and he claimed that many of the issues raised were already being tackled under the prevailing generation recovery plan and through the National Energy Crisis Committee. He also stressed that the Vgbe report was but one report that was being considered by Marokane and Eskom as part of the review of the 'Generation Operational Recovery Plan'. The other assessments being considered included reports by WSP and the World Bank, as well as a Ministerial Diagnostic report. When Marokane officially assumed the role of CEO on March 1, chairperson Mteto Nyati indicated that the review of the Generation Operational Recovery Plan had been set as a priority for his first 100 days. On whether independent experts will be appointed as recommended, Ramakgopa said it would be a decision for Eskom to make as it was a "management decision". However, he noted that various experts had already been seconded to support Eskom under the partnership with Business for South Africa, with a particular focus on the six power stations of Duvha, Kendal, Kusile, Majuba, Matla and Tutuka.

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a leading supplier of products, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation. Government and business have set a goal of increasing South Africa's electricity generation capacity by 10.5 GW by the end of 2025 as part of ongoing collaborative efforts to tackle growth-sapping power disruptions and reduce the intensity and almost daily frequency of loadshedding by year-end. In a briefing held following the latest meeting between President Cyril Ramaphosa's Cabinet and those senior business leaders who have committed to supporting government in overcoming its loadshedding, logistics and crime crises, the Presidency's Rudi Dicks said the capacity could arise from multiple sources, including by recovering capacity from Eskom's unreliable coal fleet. The lion's share, however, would arise from ongoing solar rooftop investment, public procurement and utility-scale projects being pursued by various companies on the back of a reform allowing distributed plants of any size to proceed without a licence, even when using the grid to wheel electricity. Eskom's Generation Recovery Plan would focus on operational improvements at Matla, Majuba, Kendal and Tutuka, as well as within Rotek, and would seek to build on recent partnership successes with business at Kusile, Kriel and Matla. However, Dicks said it would also hinge on securing "many more skilled resources" over and above the support that had been provided so far by the 75 individuals who had already been assigned to assist on a pro bono basis. While some services would continue to be delivered on that basis, work was also under way by Eskom, business and the National Treasury on a proposed mutual cooperation agreement (MCA) to enable Eskom to "procure skilled experts, strategic parts and ringfenced projects". Business for South Africa's Martin Kingston noted that such an agreement was already in place between Transnet and the Richards Bay Coal Terminal, which he described as a "cost-recovery mechanism". Dicks said the MCA sought to formalise the partnership between Eskom and the private sector, while stressing that it would be seeking a deal that not only complied with legislation and supply-chain management regulations but still allowed for some "pro bono work to continue". "Pro-bono support has already been provided but this does not cover technical engineering expertise to address both the main and auxiliary plant problems," Dicks added. Kingston, meanwhile, offered an assurance that the MCA with Eskom would be transparent and structured to either remove or manage any potential conflicts of interest. The proposed MCA follows the recent release of a report commissioned by the National Treasury in 2023 into the state of the Eskom coal power stations, in which the Vgbe-led report authors described the State-owned utility's governance structure and processes as "dysfunctional". They made several recommendations for improving the management structure, including the establishment of an interim team of independent experts, outside of Eskom and reporting to the National Treasury, whose members would be situated at the stations to follow up key risk areas and intervene if required. Dicks said the Vgbe report had confirmed the National Energy Crisis Committee's (Necom's) own analysis of the challenges, as well as what the required focus to ensure improved plant performance was. GRID FOR UPCOMING BID WINDOW? Outside of Eskom, business and government also agreed that actions should be taken to support ongoing private investment at a rooftop and utility scale, as well as ensure the success of the public procurement bid windows launched for renewables, gas-to-power and battery storage. Together, these private generation investments were expected to provide the majority of the additional 10.5 GW of capacity to be added or recovered by the end of 2025. It was also agreed that Eskom and the National Energy Regulator of...

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a leading supplier of products, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation. Government and business have set a goal of increasing South Africa's electricity generation capacity by 10.5 GW by the end of 2025 as part of ongoing collaborative efforts to tackle growth-sapping power disruptions and reduce the intensity and almost daily frequency of loadshedding by year-end. In a briefing held following the latest meeting between President Cyril Ramaphosa's Cabinet and those senior business leaders who have committed to supporting government in overcoming its loadshedding, logistics and crime crises, the Presidency's Rudi Dicks said the capacity could arise from multiple sources, including by recovering capacity from Eskom's unreliable coal fleet. The lion's share, however, would arise from ongoing solar rooftop investment, public procurement and utility-scale projects being pursued by various companies on the back of a reform allowing distributed plants of any size to proceed without a licence, even when using the grid to wheel electricity. Eskom's Generation Recovery Plan would focus on operational improvements at Matla, Majuba, Kendal and Tutuka, as well as within Rotek, and would seek to build on recent partnership successes with business at Kusile, Kriel and Matla. However, Dicks said it would also hinge on securing "many more skilled resources" over and above the support that had been provided so far by the 75 individuals who had already been assigned to assist on a pro bono basis. While some services would continue to be delivered on that basis, work was also under way by Eskom, business and the National Treasury on a proposed mutual cooperation agreement (MCA) to enable Eskom to "procure skilled experts, strategic parts and ringfenced projects". Business for South Africa's Martin Kingston noted that such an agreement was already in place between Transnet and the Richards Bay Coal Terminal, which he described as a "cost-recovery mechanism". Dicks said the MCA sought to formalise the partnership between Eskom and the private sector, while stressing that it would be seeking a deal that not only complied with legislation and supply-chain management regulations but still allowed for some "pro bono work to continue". "Pro-bono support has already been provided but this does not cover technical engineering expertise to address both the main and auxiliary plant problems," Dicks added. Kingston, meanwhile, offered an assurance that the MCA with Eskom would be transparent and structured to either remove or manage any potential conflicts of interest. The proposed MCA follows the recent release of a report commissioned by the National Treasury in 2023 into the state of the Eskom coal power stations, in which the Vgbe-led report authors described the State-owned utility's governance structure and processes as "dysfunctional". They made several recommendations for improving the management structure, including the establishment of an interim team of independent experts, outside of Eskom and reporting to the National Treasury, whose members would be situated at the stations to follow up key risk areas and intervene if required. Dicks said the Vgbe report had confirmed the National Energy Crisis Committee's (Necom's) own analysis of the challenges, as well as what the required focus to ensure improved plant performance was. GRID FOR UPCOMING BID WINDOW? Outside of Eskom, business and government also agreed that actions should be taken to support ongoing private investment at a rooftop and utility scale, as well as ensure the success of the public procurement bid windows launched for renewables, gas-to-power and battery storage. Together, these private generation investments were expected to provide the majority of the additional 10.5 GW of capacity to be added or recovered by the end of 2025. It was also agreed that Eskom and the National Energy Regulator of...

This episode is a long one - a full and in-depth look at the First Boer War aka the Transvaal Rebellion. It combines a number of my previous episodes into one comprehensive examination of the fighting. Here are my key sources: Majuba 1881: Ian Castle A Rain of Lead: Ian Bennet - https://amzn.to/3HbbtaZ With the Boers in the Transvaal and Orange Free State: C L Norris Newman - https://amzn.to/3Hcaszv The Transvaal Rebellion: John Laband - https://amzn.to/3NWnox0 The Transvaal War, 1880-81: Lady Bellairs - https://archive.org/details/transvaalwar00belliala/page/n5/mode/2up If you are interested in the Zulu War, then please sign up for my mailing list to receive my free book on the subject: https://redcoathistory.com/newsletter/ If you are very generous, you can also buy me a coffee and help support the channel via https://ko-fi.com/redcoathistory

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa attributed the "unwelcome" ramp up in the intensity of loadshedding to Stage 6 to a need for Eskom to rebuild its emergency reserves that had been depleted by the failure of large coal units during the week and a 1 500 MW spike in demand, which was attributed to the heat-wave conditions affecting parts of the country. Eskom implemented Stage 6 loadshedding at midday on November 24, a period that coincided with the yearly Black Friday retail event, during which shoppers flock to malls to take advantage of price specials. The utility also indicated that it intended sustaining the same level of loadshedding intensity until 5:00 on Monday morning. During Stage 6, power is interrupted in some areas for between 8 and 12 hours in a day. Speaking at a briefing organised hastily after the declaration, Ramokgopa said that although unplanned breakdowns and partial load losses were elevated at 15 600 MW and planned outages stood at 5 800 MW, Eskom would not typically have needed to resort to Stage 6 loadshedding over a low-demand weekend period to offset such losses. However, demand on Friday had risen to 1 500 MW above that experienced on Thursday, which Eskom Generation executive Bheki Nxumalo attributed to a higher use of air-conditioners. This, coupled with a requirement to to replenish dam levels at the pumped storage schemes and rebuild diesel stocks, particularly at the Ankerlig open-cycle gas turbine, had led to the decision to implement Stage 6. The emergency generators had been used extensively during the week, when large units failed at power station such as Medupi, Lethabo, Duvha and Majuba. Nxumalo insisted that Ankerlig's diesel stocks were not being directly affected by the congestion at the Port of Cape Town and said the rate of replenishment was instead limited by the usual road-logistics constraints associated with the restocking of the facility. Ramokgopa also insisted that there had been no reversal in the recovery trend across the coal fleet and forecast that there would be "significantly lower levels of loadshedding" in December, even predicting that there would be some days when no loadshedding would be implemented. He acknowledged, though, that the loadshedding threat could only be eliminated with the introduction of new generation capacity, and said actions were being taken to unlock private capacity and resume public procurement. However, no firm date was provided for the resumption of public renewables procurement, which was initially scheduled to resume in the middle of 2023, but which has been delayed because of ongoing uncertainty over grid allocations. A further system briefing would be held on Sunday.

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa attributed the "unwelcome" ramp up in the intensity of loadshedding to Stage 6 to a need for Eskom to rebuild its emergency reserves that had been depleted by the failure of large coal units during the week and a 1 500 MW spike in demand, which was attributed to the heat-wave conditions affecting parts of the country. Eskom implemented Stage 6 loadshedding at midday on November 24, a period that coincided with the yearly Black Friday retail event, during which shoppers flock to malls to take advantage of price specials. The utility also indicated that it intended sustaining the same level of loadshedding intensity until 5:00 on Monday morning. During Stage 6, power is interrupted in some areas for between 8 and 12 hours in a day. Speaking at a briefing organised hastily after the declaration, Ramokgopa said that although unplanned breakdowns and partial load losses were elevated at 15 600 MW and planned outages stood at 5 800 MW, Eskom would not typically have needed to resort to Stage 6 loadshedding over a low-demand weekend period to offset such losses. However, demand on Friday had risen to 1 500 MW above that experienced on Thursday, which Eskom Generation executive Bheki Nxumalo attributed to a higher use of air-conditioners. This, coupled with a requirement to to replenish dam levels at the pumped storage schemes and rebuild diesel stocks, particularly at the Ankerlig open-cycle gas turbine, had led to the decision to implement Stage 6. The emergency generators had been used extensively during the week, when large units failed at power station such as Medupi, Lethabo, Duvha and Majuba. Nxumalo insisted that Ankerlig's diesel stocks were not being directly affected by the congestion at the Port of Cape Town and said the rate of replenishment was instead limited by the usual road-logistics constraints associated with the restocking of the facility. Ramokgopa also insisted that there had been no reversal in the recovery trend across the coal fleet and forecast that there would be "significantly lower levels of loadshedding" in December, even predicting that there would be some days when no loadshedding would be implemented. He acknowledged, though, that the loadshedding threat could only be eliminated with the introduction of new generation capacity, and said actions were being taken to unlock private capacity and resume public procurement. However, no firm date was provided for the resumption of public renewables procurement, which was initially scheduled to resume in the middle of 2023, but which has been delayed because of ongoing uncertainty over grid allocations. A further system briefing would be held on Sunday.

The Battle of Majuba, fought in South Africa on the 27th February 1881 was one of the British Army's most humiliating defeats.Of their force of 400 men, the British lost 92 killed (including their commanding general), 134 wounded and 59 captured - a 70% casualty figure.In comparison their Boer opponents lost just 2 men killed and 4 wounded.It would result in the Boers regaining their independence from Britain: the first time since the American colonists that part of the British empire had successfully broken free.It is a story of folly, mixed with ego and good dose of bravery too.Don't forget to sign up for my weekly history newsletterSupport the show

Eskom is expecting demand for the rest of South Africa's winter months to remain below levels initially assumed when the utility finalised its base case for the high-demand season (see graphic above), while it is also beginning to report improved generation performance at some of its coal stations. When Eskom unveiled its winter outlook on May 18, it warned that it might be forced to resort to Stage 8 loadshedding (representing 16 hours of cuts in a 32-hour cycle) should it fail to cap coal plant breakdowns to below 15 000 MW and should demand spike on the back of colder temperatures, particularly in Gauteng. Eskom's Eric Shunmagum reports that there have been favourable developments on both fronts, with demand having moderated from the 33 000 MW peak experienced in late May and supply having also improved from both Eskom and renewables plants. The May peak preceded the implementation of the winter tariff, implemented on large energy intensive businesses as from June 1. Shunmagum says Eskom has not yet calculated the full effect of the winter tariff but estimates that demand is likely to have dropped by between 850 MW and 1 000 MW as a result of large industrial plants having shut down in line with the introduction of the tariff. The utility is also pursuing a demand-side management campaign through which it hopes to shave a further 1 000 MW from consumption over the coming few months. He stresses, however, that the main reason for the current deviation from the winter demand base case is attributable to weather conditions which have also supported the availability of some renewables generators. The wind fleet in particular, has performed strongly during recent cold fronts, supplying up to 2 000 MW during evening peaks on certain days. While Gauteng could still face a cold snap, which could drive up demand significantly, the utility is nevertheless expecting peak demand to remain below the base case peak forecast outlined in May for the rest of the winter period to September. The utility's latest peak demand forecast does not show demand rising above 32 000 MW again this winter. Shunmagum stresses, however, that there have also been improvements on the supply side, with unit breakdowns, which were trending at between 18 500 MW and 19 000 MW in May, currently trending between 14 500 MW and 16 000 MW. “So, there's at least a 3 000 MW improvement on breakdowns,” he states. Ahead of winter, the generation division outlined a goal of sustaining breakdowns to below 15 000 MW and of capping planned outages to below 3 000 MW to limit loadshedding, as well as the use of diesel at the open cycle gas turbines. “There has definitely been an improvement in generation performance,” he says, reporting particularly pleasing turnarounds at Tutuka, Duvha, Kendal and Majuba. On the supply-side, Eskom has also welcomed the decision by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment to grant Kusile a postponement in meeting sulphur dioxide minimum emission standards. The postponement means that Eskom will be able to operate temporary stacks at the three units rendered inoperable after the Unit 1 flue duct collapsed on October 23, owing to a build-up of slurry. The collapse also compromised the unit 2 and 3 flue ducts, which share a chimney with the Unit 1 flue. Under the updated Atmospheric Emission Licence, Kusile will be able to bypass the flue gas desulphurisation plant until March 31, 2025 and resume output using temporary stacks that will be returned to service in November (Unit 3) and December (Unit 1 and Unit 2). The units will not be introduced at full load of about 720 MW, however, and will produce at about 520 MW apiece while employing the temporary stacks. The utility is planning to complete repairs to the ducts in the permanent stack by December 2024.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has indicated that there is no intention of overhauling the Energy Action Plan he unveiled in July last year, even while acknowledging that “many of the measures in the plan will not be felt in the immediate term” and that loadshedding will, thus, continue. Writing in his weekly newsletter following a week of consultative meetings on the electricity crisis with various social partners and the National Energy Crisis Committee (NECOM), which he chairs, the President said he had used the meetings to underline “the importance of staying the course, instead of coming up with unsustainable short-term solutions”. “Six months ago I announced a national Energy Action Plan to improve the performance of Eskom's power stations and add new generation capacity as quickly as possible. “This plan was the result of extensive consultation and was endorsed by energy experts as the most realistic path towards ending loadshedding,” the President writes. Many of the measures, would not be felt in the immediate term, however. “We must be realistic about our challenges and about what it is going to take to fix them. While we all desperately want to, we cannot end loadshedding overnight.” He made no reference in the newsletter to his reported request to Eskom to halt the implementation of the 18.65% tariff increase, which was recently sanctioned by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa. Such an intervention, while popular, would further weaken Eskom's financial ability to respond to the crisis, including to implement the Energy Action Plan's goal of recovering the performance of the under-maintained coal fleet, as well as to beef up security around Eskom's assets, which have become hotbeds of corruption and crime, including sabotage. Speaking on Radio 702, Eskom chairperson Mpho Makwana denied the President had requested Eskom to halt the hike, but had rather requested the utility to assess ways to “absorb the impact of the 18.65%”. "We have indicated that we have a number of brilliant minds on our board that will look at all means possible to ease the pain. We are sympathetic to South Africans," Makwana said, adding that it would report back to NECOM on possible mechanisms to limit the impact of the tariff increase. Should the increase, which is due for implementation on April 1, be moderated, it is possible that Eskom may need to approach the National Treasury for support over-and-above the regular injections already being received to sustain the State-owned company as a going concern. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has already rebuffed the utility's attempt to secure money to purchase additional diesel, but is expected to announce details of a debt-relief package in his February Budget. Godongwana indicated in October that between one-third and two-thirds of Eskom's near R400-billion debt could be transferred from Eskom to the National Treasury. In his newsletter, meanwhile, Ramaphosa says he is aware that “everyone is fed up” with loadshedding, but insists that, by implementing the Energy Action Plan, loadshedding will steadily become less severe. “That is why we are using every means at our disposal, calling on every resource we have, to get power onto the grid as a matter of extreme urgency.” There is a big focus, he indicates, on improving plant performance, particularly at the six underperforming power stations of Kendal, Matla, Majuba, Duvha, Tutuka and Kusile. The day before the newsletter was published, Eskom released details of a board- and shareholder-approved generation recovery plan to deliver more than 6 000 MW of Eskom generation over the coming two years. The maintenance-led initiative aims to recover Eskom's energy availability factor (EAF) from an average for the current financial year of 58% to a nominal 60% by the end of March. The goal is then to progressively increase the average EAF to 65% by the end of March 2024 and to 70% by the end of March 2025. Engineering consultant WSP Africa hav...

Eskom will approach the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) for an exemption to allow it to temporarily bypass the flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) units at the Kusile power station in an effort to reintroduce 2 160 MW of production, months earlier than would be the case absent such an exemption. Kusile Units 1, 2 and 3 have been out of service since October 23 after the flue duct at Unit 1 failed as a result of the duct bend collapsing, owing to excessive weight of slurry deposited in the flue. The incident also compromised the adjacent Unit 2 and 3 flue duct bends, making all three units inoperable, which has precipitated an intensification of loadshedding by two stages. It is currently estimated that a full repair, which will involve increasing the height of the smokestacks to 90 m, could take 18 months. However, Eskom aims to introduce temporary flues for the three units to enable an earlier return to service, while the longer-term solution is implemented on the common chimney. COO Jan Oberholzer indicated during a briefing on January 22 that the design for the temporary stacks had been completed and that it would be technically possible to bypass the FDGs and, thus, reintroduce the units about eight months earlier. However, a temporary exemption would be required from the DFFE to enable it to bypass the air-pollution control system, which has been a regular source of trips at Kusile, and Oberholzer confirmed that Eskom would be making a formal request to the DFFE in this regard. The move is likely to face some resistance from environmental groups, but the authorities are likely to prove sympathetic given growing public anger over power cuts and even some legal demands for Eskom to immediately halt loadshedding. After South Africa's worst-ever year for rotational power cuts in 2022, loadshedding has already been implemented on every day of 2023 so far, at times at Stage 6, and the outlook for the rest of the year remains bleak. The recovery of the three Kusile units, as well as the synchronisation to the grid of Kusile Unit 5 later this year, forms part of a larger board- and shareholder approved generation recovery plan to deliver more than 6 000 MW of Eskom generation over the coming two years. Besides the rebuilding of Medupi Unit 4, which is out of service owing to a hydrogen explosion, much of the recovery is expected to arise from the six underperforming coal stations of Kendal, Matla, Majuba , Duvha , Tutuka and Kusile. Acting generation executive Thomas Conradie reported that the intention was to add 6 274 MW over a 24-month period, including 1 862 MW in the coming six months, an additional 1 530 MW in 12 months, 1 818 MW in 18 months and an additional 1 064 MW in 24 months. The board operations performance committee had requested the appointment of WSP Africa to monitor and report on the implementation of what is described as a “complex project management exercise”. Loadshedding would still be required over the period, however, to create “headroom” for the maintenance required to stabilise the coal fleet and raise Eskom's energy availability factor (EAF). The average year-to-date EAF has been about 58% (with the coal fleet operating at an average EAF of about 52%) to a nominal 60% by the end of March. The goal is then to increase the average EAF to 65% by the end of March 2024 and to 70% by the end of March 2025. The briefing exposed a divergence between the board and the executives over the implementation of loadshedding, with chairperson Mpho Makwana indicating that there would be “permanent Stage 2 or 3 loadshedding for the next two years in order to give sufficient space for maintenance” and the executives indicating that higher stages would probably be required at times, while no loadshedding would be implemented if there was sufficient energy available to avoid such cuts. Following the briefing Eskom indicated that it could not guarantee that loadshedding would remain at between St...

The National Energy Crisis Committee (NECOM), which is overseeing the implementation of the National Energy Plan announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in July, presented a ‘Roadmap to end Loadshedding' to various partners and stakeholders this week. The presentation has not been formally released and the committee is yet to make a public briefing. It is, thus, possible that the roadmap presented will be adjusted, particularly given intensive recent discussions on the crisis and reports that Ramaphosa had “locked NECOM in a room” this week with an instruction to find solutions. The roadmap presented covers this year and next, as well as the period after 2024 and outlines what energy and capacity could be injected over the period as a result of the various interventions that have been announced as part of the Energy Action Plan. Besides assuming that 6 000 MW could be introduced over the coming two years as a result of an improved performance from Eskom's coal fleet, especially from Tutuka, Kendal, Duvha, Majuba, Medupi and Kusile, the roadmap indicates that 8 822 MW could be added this year from other sources. Notably the roadmap makes no reference, however, to securing additional diesel for the open-cycle gas turbines, despite a renewed call from business for government to fund Eskom's diesel use to reduce loadshedding stages in the short term. Eskom has already more than exhausted its diesel budget for the current financial year and the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has granted Eskom revenue of R8.4-billion for the coming financial year, beginning on April 1, against an Eskom request for R16.9-billion. The specific interventions outlined for 2023 outside of the generation recovery plan under way at Eskom include sourcing: 2 880 MW from the recovery of Kusile Units 1, 2 and 3, as well as the completion of Unit 5. Currently, three Kusile units are offline following the October 23 structural collapse of the chimney duct, which is forecast to take months to repair; up to 1 625 MW arising from imports from neighbouring countries; 1 597 MW from private embedded generation projects; 1 350 MW from the standard offer and emergency generation programme; some 850 MW from rooftop solar; about 250 MW arising from demand-response and energy-efficiency programmes; some 200 MW from the first phase of Eskom battery roll-out; and 70 MW arising from existing independent power producers (IPPs) with surplus energy. During 2024, the roadmap estimates that a further 8 665 MW could be injected from municipal procurement (1 500 MW); emergency power projects (775 MW); bid window five renewables projects (794 MW), additional demand response (1 200 MW), the procurement of IPP battery storage (513 MW); the return to service of Medupi Unit 4 and the completion of Kusile Unit 6 (1 520 MW); additional embedded generation (2 125 MW) and Eskom just transition and battery projects (238 MW). Beyond 2024, the roadmap indicates that more than 29 000 MW could be added from various public and private procurement initiatives. The presentation also insists that the Energy Action Plan, which has been operationalised to include nine workstreams, provides a clear way out of this crisis. It acknowledges, however, that the electricity system will remain under pressure in the short term, which, given the current public mood, is likely to add further pressure on Eskom and government as the backlash against loadshedding intensifies. The presentation also highlights measures that should be taken to accelerate the implementation of the Energy Action Plan, including six specific actions to add new capacity in the short-term, namely: improving Eskom plant performance through the ‘Generation Recovery Plan'; the procurement of emergency power, for which no details are provided but which is likely to be seen as code for powerships; the import of additional power from neighbouring countries; the finalisation of a feed-in tariff and net-metering guidelines “to...

Members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) have arrived at four Eskom power stations in Mpumalanga. The soldiers will be deployed at the Camden, Majuba, Thuthuka and Groetvlei power stations.  Their deployment follows allegations of sabotage at the stations which led to escalating levels of loadshedding. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the deployment of the SANDF at several Eskom facilities over the weekend. SABC reporter, Eric Lubisi filed this report.

Eskom will implement continuous stage 2 loadshedding until further notice due to the breakdown of six generating units at five power stations, the power utility said on Friday afternoon. There has also been a delay in return to service of "numerous" generating units, spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha added. A generating unit each at Duvha, Grootvlei, Hendrina, Majuba and two units at Arnot Power Station, were taken offline for repairs over the past 24 hours. The delay in returning to service two generating units at Camden and one unit each at Arnot and Duvha power stations contributed to capacity constraints. Eskom is moreover facing a budget crunch for diesel supplies for its open cycle gas turbines. It anticipates increased loadshedding over the next 6 to 12 months, it said. "The imminent refuelling and maintenance outage, as well as the long-term operation project of Unit 1 of the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station, together with the October chimney failure that has forced three generation units offline at Kusile Power Station, will further reduce available generation capacity and significantly increase the occurrence of loadshedding during the next 6 to 12 months." Currently 4 423MW of capacity is out on planned maintenance, while another 16 708MW is unavailable due to breakdowns.

Statistics released by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) underlined how significantly loadshedding has intensified during 2022, which is the first year that the majority of the rotational cuts have been implemented at Stage 4, representing 4 000 MW of simultaneous cuts. It is also the first year since 2019 that Stage 6 loadshedding was implemented, and for far longer periods (nearly ten times longer) than was the case three years ago. The publication, released amid ongoing loadshedding by Eskom, shows that more rotational cuts were implemented in the three months from July to September than in any previous full year since the introduction of loadshedding by Eskom in 2007. It also confirms that there was more loadshedding in September alone than during 2020 as a whole. Produced by Warrick Pierce and Monique Le Roux, the publication shows that 5 761 GWh of energy had been shed by the end of September, and 1 949 hours disrupted. Loadshedding contributing the lion's share of the 4 315 GWh of demand-side response implemented during the nine-month period, with the balance arising from interruptible contracts. In 2021, previously South Africa's worst-ever year for loadshedding, 2 521 GWh of energy was shed and 1 169 hours disrupted. The intensification of loadshedding during the year led to the July 25 announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa of a series of interventions to address ongoing power cuts, including the establishment of a National Energy Crisis Committee (Necom). Three priority levers were identified to close the prevailing supply/demand gap, namely: improving the performance of Eskom's coal fleet; procuring additional capacity from the non-Eskom sources of supply and scaling up demand-side management. To support the stabilisation for the system Necom is also targeting the procurement of a further 2 295 MW during the coming 12 months, which could arise from ongoing and emergency procurement programmes, as well as imports from the region. Some 1 450 MW of demand reduction is being targeted through various interventions, including power alerts and other measures to change consumer behaviour. Recent market reform allowing embedded generation plant, initially below 100 MW in size, but eventually of any size, is expected to unlock further private supply, as is an Eskom initiative to lease grid-ready land parcels to independent power producers and generation investments by municipalities. Eskom, meanwhile, expects to add 2 200 MW over the coming year from interventions primarily at six coal stations, namely Tutuka, Kendal, Duvha, Majuba, Matla and Kusile. The maintenance effort will seek to decrease unplanned outages, which have contributed to the fall in the fleet energy availability factor (EAF), while commissioning the remaining new-build units, while addressing defects. The CSIR statistics confirmed that the EAF of the entire Eskom fleet continued to decline in 2022, with the average weekly EAF for the year to date having fallen to 59.1% from 61.7% in 2021 and 65% in 2020. The CSIR attributes the decline in the EAF largely to the increase in unplanned outages experienced by Eskom and also suggests that there has been a “flattening out” of the EAF during the year. The capacity factors of the coal and nuclear plants both fell to 52.4% during the first half of 2022, having been 55.7% and 53% respectively in the corresponding period of 2021. The statistics analyse by the CSIR cover all utility-scale generation technologies, including coal, nuclear, hydro, solar photovoltaics (PV), onshore wind, concentrated solar power (CSP), pumped storage and diesel-fuelled open cycle gas turbines. They show that during the first half of 2022, the total system demand was similar to the year before, but still 3 TWh (2.5%) below the pre-Covid lockdown levels of 2019. Coal continued to dominate the South African energy mix, meeting more than 80%, or 113 TWh, of the total system load. The contribution of wind, solar PV...

Four independent power producers have been named as successful bidders for the lease of grid-ready Mpumalanga land, which is being made available by Eskom as part of efforts to accelerate the development of wind, solar and storage projects in the province – investments that should, in time, help lower the risk of loadshedding and provide new employment and business opportunities in the region as coal plants are decommissioned. The entities identified as having secured the 25- to 30-year property leases for parcels covering a total of 6 184 ha of land near the Majuba and Tutuka coal stations are HDF Energy South Africa, Red Rocket, Sola Group and Mainstream Renewable Power Developments South Africa. The bidders, which were selected following a competitive process initiated in April, are now expected to finalise comprehensive feasibility studies to determine which technologies, and at what scale, they will build on the sites. In addition, they will need to secure private offtakers for the electricity, which will not be bought by Eskom and will, thus, attract no National Treasury guarantee, as is currently the case for the utility-scale projects procured under the government-run Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme. Instead, the private generators will sign bilateral power purchase agreements (PPAs) with private offtakers, and the projects should, thus, pose little or no financial risk to taxpayers or Eskom. The final technology mix and size of the projects is yet to be determined, but Eskom CEO André de Ruyter stressed that the leases include a “use-it-or-lose-it” clause so as to ensure that the utility retains some control should projects fail to meet certain developmental milestones over the coming months. Speaking at a signing ceremony, De Ruyter expressed confidence that the inaugural leasing of Eskom land would result in the development of wind and solar projects with a combined capacity of at least 2 000 MW over the coming 24 to 36 months, as well as the development of some battery storage capacity. The electricity would also be wheeled across the Eskom grid, generating revenue for the cash-strapped utility from existing assets in the province. It was also confirmed that Eskom would be issuing new tenders for other land parcels every quarter and that up to 30 000 ha could eventually be made available. The next phase, to be initiated in the coming months, will focus on properties around the Kendal and Kusile power stations in Mpumalanga, as well as the retired Ingagane power station in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal. Efforts would be made, with the assistance of Operation Vulindlela, to ensure that various land-use and environmental authorisations were secured on an expedited basis that projects could proceed as soon as possible. “By making Eskom land available close to the power stations, where there is sufficient grid capacity, we have taken an innovative step to find the quickest way possible and within our scope of influence to boost the country's generation capacity,” De Ruyter said.

Four independent power producers have been named as successful bidders for the lease of grid-ready Mpumalanga land, which is being made available by Eskom as part of efforts to accelerate the development of wind, solar and storage projects in the province – investments that should, in time, help lower the risk of loadshedding and provide new employment and business opportunities in the region as coal plants are decommissioned. The entities identified as having secured the 25- to 30-year property leases for parcels covering a total of 6 184 ha of land near the Majuba and Tutuka coal stations are HDF Energy South Africa, Red Rocket, Sola Group and Mainstream Renewable Power Developments South Africa. The bidders, which were selected following a competitive process initiated in April, are now expected to finalise comprehensive feasibility studies to determine which technologies, and at what scale, they will build on the sites. In addition, they will need to secure private offtakers for the electricity, which will not be bought by Eskom and will, thus, attract no National Treasury guarantee, as is currently the case for the utility-scale projects procured under the government-run Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme. Instead, the private generators will sign bilateral power purchase agreements (PPAs) with private offtakers, and the projects should, thus, pose little or no financial risk to taxpayers or Eskom. The final technology mix and size of the projects is yet to be determined, but Eskom CEO André de Ruyter stressed that the leases include a “use-it-or-lose-it” clause so as to ensure that the utility retains some control should projects fail to meet certain developmental milestones over the coming months. Speaking at a signing ceremony, De Ruyter expressed confidence that the inaugural leasing of Eskom land would result in the development of wind and solar projects with a combined capacity of at least 2 000 MW over the coming 24 to 36 months, as well as the development of some battery storage capacity. The electricity would also be wheeled across the Eskom grid, generating revenue for the cash-strapped utility from existing assets in the province. It was also confirmed that Eskom would be issuing new tenders for other land parcels every quarter and that up to 30 000 ha could eventually be made available. The next phase, to be initiated in the coming months, will focus on properties around the Kendal and Kusile power stations in Mpumalanga, as well as the retired Ingagane power station in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal. Efforts would be made, with the assistance of Operation Vulindlela, to ensure that various land-use and environmental authorisations were secured on an expedited basis that projects could proceed as soon as possible. “By making Eskom land available close to the power stations, where there is sufficient grid capacity, we have taken an innovative step to find the quickest way possible and within our scope of influence to boost the country's generation capacity,” De Ruyter said.

Kinetiko Energy Ltd's (ASX:KKO) CEO Nick de Blocq speaks to Proactive about the company's exploration work near South Africa's Majuba power station. Majuba has a 20MW gas generator awaiting a source of fuel and Kinetiko is hoping to be able to supply the power station using gas from the site. Kinetiko has recently secured A$5mln in additional funding from South African energy investment company Phefo Power. to support of its immediate exploration program, with plans to drill seven core wells well underway. #proactiveinvestors #Kinetiko #naturalgas

Load shedding will be suspended at 05:00 on Saturday morning due to lower weekend demand and adequate emergency generation reserves, Eskom said in a statement on Friday. The embattled power utility has implemented a record spell of unbroken rolling power cuts as it suffered a series of breakdowns at many of its key power stations in recent weeks. "While the generation capacity constraints persist, the suspension of loadshedding is possible due to the anticipated lower weekend demand, as well as adequate levels of emergency generation reserves. Eskom will publish a further update on Sunday afternoon, or as soon as there are any significant changes. Since yesterday afternoon a generation unit each at Camden, Grootvlei, Hendrina, Kendal, Kriel, Majuba and Tutuka power stations have returned to service," spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said. A generating unit at Duvha Power Station was taken offline to be repaired. Eskom currently has 5 512 MW on planned maintenance, with another 13 484 MW out due to breakdowns.

Eskom told the regulator on Tuesday that its immediate focus was on returning 14 coal units to service over the coming four days, in an effort to recover 8 012 MW of coal generation so as to ease load-shedding, which was being implemented at Stage 5. Although the National Energy Regulator of South Africa's (Nersa's) hearings are concerned primarily with the State-owned utility's request for a 32% tariff hike, regulatory members had requested an update on load-shedding and its implications for the utility's costs during the first day of hearings on Monday. Members were particularly concerned about Eskom's newly-published energy availability factor (EAF) assumption of 59% for the coming two financial years, which would result in a heavy reliance on the open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs). Eskom is currently assuming that the load factor of the OCGT plants will rise from 5% to 12%, which would trigger a surge in its diesel costs to R16.9-billion in 2023/24 and R17.7-billion in 2024/25. For the year to date, a period that coincides with South Africa's worst-ever load-shedding, Eskom has already spent R7.7-billion on diesel and has been operating the OCGT plants at an average load factor of 14%. On the second day of hearings, Eskom generation executive Eric Shunmagum revealed that the utility was aiming to return eight units, with a combine capacity of 3 990 MW, during the course of Tuesday, September 20. It was targeting three more, representing 1 115 MW, on Wednesday and another three units, with a combined capacity of 1 837 MW, on Friday, so as to ramp down rotational cuts to Stage 2 by the weekend. Shunmagum said the generation unit's operational recovery plan was geared towards improving the EAF from 59% to at least 70% from the end of March 2024 onwards, by when some older stations would have been decommissioned and Kusile completed. Until then, the OCGTs would be used extensively, as had been the case since the start of the current financial year on April 1, when the load factor had dipped below 10% in just a single month (August) and had been as high as 18.8% during June. Questioned about the prudency of using the OCGT plants so extensively, Eskom argued that the cost to the country was “much cheaper when compared to higher levels of load-shedding”. Beyond the immediate return to service plan for the current week, Shunmagum said the recovery plan would focus on the ‘Top 6 priority stations' of Tutuka, Duvha, Majuba, Kusile Matla and Kendal. “All our efforts will be going into those stations as we begin shutting the oldest stations in the next two to three years.” After March 31, the focus would shift to the next set of priority stations of Matimba, Lethabo, Medupi, Kriel and Arnot. “These stations were specifically selected as they are amongst the highest contributors to the unplanned load losses and any improvement at these stations will see a massive change in the EAF,” Shunmagum asserted. Priority would also be given to a successful execution of the steam generator replacement projects at Koeberg Unit 1, following serious difficulties at Unit 2. Koeberg Unit 2 was returned to service in August without the steam generators having been replaced because of a lack of project preparation by Eskom and had since tripped, further intensifying September load-shedding.

Eskom told the regulator on Tuesday that its immediate focus was on returning 14 coal units to service over the coming four days, in an effort to recover 8 012 MW of coal generation so as to ease load-shedding, which was being implemented at Stage 5. Although the National Energy Regulator of South Africa's (Nersa's) hearings are concerned primarily with the State-owned utility's request for a 32% tariff hike, regulatory members had requested an update on load-shedding and its implications for the utility's costs during the first day of hearings on Monday. Members were particularly concerned about Eskom's newly-published energy availability factor (EAF) assumption of 59% for the coming two financial years, which would result in a heavy reliance on the open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs). Eskom is currently assuming that the load factor of the OCGT plants will rise from 5% to 12%, which would trigger a surge in its diesel costs to R16.9-billion in 2023/24 and R17.7-billion in 2024/25. For the year to date, a period that coincides with South Africa's worst-ever load-shedding, Eskom has already spent R7.7-billion on diesel and has been operating the OCGT plants at an average load factor of 14%. On the second day of hearings, Eskom generation executive Eric Shunmagum revealed that the utility was aiming to return eight units, with a combine capacity of 3 990 MW, during the course of Tuesday, September 20. It was targeting three more, representing 1 115 MW, on Wednesday and another three units, with a combined capacity of 1 837 MW, on Friday, so as to ramp down rotational cuts to Stage 2 by the weekend. Shunmagum said the generation unit's operational recovery plan was geared towards improving the EAF from 59% to at least 70% from the end of March 2024 onwards, by when some older stations would have been decommissioned and Kusile completed. Until then, the OCGTs would be used extensively, as had been the case since the start of the current financial year on April 1, when the load factor had dipped below 10% in just a single month (August) and had been as high as 18.8% during June. Questioned about the prudency of using the OCGT plants so extensively, Eskom argued that the cost to the country was “much cheaper when compared to higher levels of load-shedding”. Beyond the immediate return to service plan for the current week, Shunmagum said the recovery plan would focus on the ‘Top 6 priority stations' of Tutuka, Duvha, Majuba, Kusile Matla and Kendal. “All our efforts will be going into those stations as we begin shutting the oldest stations in the next two to three years.” After March 31, the focus would shift to the next set of priority stations of Matimba, Lethabo, Medupi, Kriel and Arnot. “These stations were specifically selected as they are amongst the highest contributors to the unplanned load losses and any improvement at these stations will see a massive change in the EAF,” Shunmagum asserted. Priority would also be given to a successful execution of the steam generator replacement projects at Koeberg Unit 1, following serious difficulties at Unit 2. Koeberg Unit 2 was returned to service in August without the steam generators having been replaced because of a lack of project preparation by Eskom and had since tripped, further intensifying September load-shedding.

Eskom het fase vier-beurtkrag verleng tot Sondagoggend vyf-uur weens eenhede wat voortdurend onklaar raak en 'n tekort aan opwekkingsvermoë. Eskom se woordvoerder, Sikonathi Mantshantsha, sê fase drie sal dan vanaf Sondagoggend vyf-uur tot Maandagoggend vyf-uur geld. Mantshantsha sê opwekkingseenheide by die Kriel-, Majuba- en Tutuka-kragstasies wat onklaar geraak het, het tot die verlenging van fase vier-beurtkrag gelei:

Eskom het aangekondig dat Fase 4-beurtkrag die hele Donderdag en Vrydag sal voortduur, met 'n moontlikheid van laer fases vanaf Saterdagoggend. Eskom se woordvoerder, Sikonathi Mantshantsha, sê die tekort aan opwekkingsvermoë en noodsaaklike onbeplande instandhouding om eenhede weer in diens te stel, het tot die verlenging gelei. Mantshantsha sê daar was vanoggend nog opwekkingseenhede wat onklaar geraak het by Kendal en Majuba, as gevolg van ketelbuis-lekkasies.

Met fase 4-beurtkrag wat tans landwyd Suid-Afrika in plek is, wat nog môre en Vrydag in werking sal wees, het President Cyril Ramaphosa Suid-Afrikaners gevra om geduldig met Eskom te wees. Die verlenging van fase 4-beurtkrag kom na nog 'n verdere twee kragopwekkings-eenhede vroeër vandag by die Kendal- en Majuba-kragstasies onklaar geraak het. Kosmos 94.1 Nuus se korrespondent in Kaapstad, Fritz Platt ..

In the latest episode in their series about Sir Ian Hamilton, who would become infamous for his failure as the commander of the Gallipoli campaign, Pete and Gary look back at the early stages of his career, and his success as a young officer during the First Boer War.Presenters: Peter Hart and Gary BainPublisher: Mat McLachlanProducer: Jess StebnickiBecome a member to listen ad-free and receive special bonus content for only £2 per month: https://plus.acast.com/s/pete-and-garys-military-historySupport the show with a one-off contribution: www.buymeacoffee.com/pgmhFor more great history content, visit www.LivingHistoryTV.com, or subscribe to our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/c/LivingHistoryTVTo walk in the footsteps of the soldiers of the First and Second World Wars, join one of our battlefield tours! Full details at www.battlefields.com.au Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/pete-and-garys-military-history.

Stage 2 load-shedding might be required at short notice from 16:00 to midnight on Wednesday. Breakdowns at the Majuba, Tutuka and Kriel power stations have put a severe strain on the power generation system, Eskom said. Stage 2 load-shedding may be required at short notice should any further significant breakdowns occur. The delay in returning two generation units at Arnot, a unit each at Kusile and Hendrina power stations has exacerbated the electricity generation constraints. Some 4 479MW in capacity is out on planned maintenance, while another 12 951MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns. The last round of load-shedding ended on Sunday.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) said that immediate and short-term electricity needs must be addressed by a plan that deals with reliability of supply within existing parameters in the most cost-effective and source-agnostic manner. The party released its Energy and Electricity policy on Tuesday, which DA Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises Ghaleb Cachalia said would end load-shedding, ensure access to cheap electricity and fuel, and secure the environment for future generations. Eskom warned that Stage 2 load-shedding might be implemented at short notice over the next three days, owing to a delay in returning generation units to service at the Arnot, Kusile and Koeberg power stations, as well as the failure of a generation unit each at Medupi, Hendrina, Camden, and two units at Majuba. DA Shadow Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Kevin Mileham explained that Eskom was beset by an apparent inability to fix its fleet and plug the short-term needs while longer-term solutions were put in place. He said in an effort to eliminate load-shedding there should be a complete unbundling of Eskom, specifically entirely separate enterprises which did not fall under the same holding company. Commercially viable power stations should be sold to private owners and operated until the end of the remaining life of the station, the DA suggested. The envisioned end state for generation was of a diversified and competitive generation sector, Mileham said. He said with generation and distribution privatised, the remaining transmission entity of Eskom, free from conflicts of interest, should become a national, State-owned, Independent Transmission System and Market Operator with power planning, procurement, contracting, grid system and electricity market operation functions. Mileham said that the DA's electricity policy was built on putting the consumer first, explaining that compared with the African National Congress's current policy of a State-driven electricity model, the DA approach actively facilitates the emergence of “prosumers”, where customers of electricity may also generate energy into the grid when they have surplus energy. He explained that the policy would incentivise the uptake of rooftop solar for residential purposes by granting a once-off tax rebate and would eliminate illegal connection by providing an amnesty for all households with illegal connections. NEW GENERATION, JUST ENERGY TRANSITION Cachalia said in view of the “dire state of the country's electricity generation capacity”, South Africa should be making it easy, not difficult, for independent power producers (IPPs) to bring in new power at scale and in the shortest possible time. The DA said there needed to be a clear transition plan that would upskill and reskill former coal sector workers and a reduction of barriers for community-owned projects to compete. COMPETITIVE FUEL INDUSTRY The DA said to promote a competitive fuel industry with low retail prices for consumers, there was an urgent need to remove government taxes, levies and price controls on liquid fuels to promote competition and ease the cost of living for all South Africans. “South Africa needs a competitive energy market where the State does not have a monopoly on energy generation, supply and distribution. There should be a multiplicity of private suppliers, competing with one another to provide the best service and lowest price. This requires making it easier for energy suppliers to enter and participate in energy markets,” the party said.

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan reports that Eskom will seek the exemptions it requires to immediately buy up to 1 600 MW of surplus electricity generation that it believes could be available immediately from existing independent power producers (IPPs) and those private South African businesses with their own generation capacity. He also announced that a further 100 MW to 200 MW could be purchased in the short-term from Botswana and Zambia through the Southern African Power Pool, while a further 150 MW of gas-fired electricity could be purchased from Mozambique. To purchase any local surplus, Eskom requires an exemption from Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, who has the authority to issue Ministerial determinations or exemptions from such determinations, that are still required to allow for the procurement of additional new generation capacity. Once secured, Eskom would extend a standard offer to buy any surplus electricity available across mines and industry and would also be able to mop up electricity that is currently being curtailed by renewables IPPs when they generate electricity above that which is catered for under the terms of their power purchase agreements with Eskom. Speaking during the inaugural briefing of the newly established Energy Crisis Committee, Gordhan said the 1 600 MW threshold had been suggested by Eskom itself and was seen as sufficient to ensure that any electricity that is currently available domestically is secured as soon as possible. He also announced that the utility would seek Public Finance Management Act-related exemptions from Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana to ensure that it was able to acquire the spares it needed for the accelerated maintenance announced as part of President Cyril Rmaphosa's July 25 energy action plan to tackle the load-shedding crisis, as well as to enter into contracts with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Such exemptions are viewed as key to intensifying and expanding maintenance across six Eskom power stations, where it is believed the energy availability factor can be recovered most rapidly. The six stations identified for priority maintenance include Kendal, Majuba, Tutuka, Kusile, Duvha and Matla, Gordhan said. He described the expanded maintenance effort – which would initially be funded through Eskom's R8-billion budget for generation plant maintenance, but which may need to be enlarged by a further National Treasury-supported R2-billion – as the first component in a three-part package to end load-shedding and create the basis for long-term supply stability. “The first step is about how many more megawatts we can get by maintaining the current plant better [and] by ensuring that we have the right skills both at the leadership level of the power stations and at the operator level.” The Minister said that a team of former Eskom power station managers and senior managers was being assembled to assist the incumbents (who had all the qualifications but lacked experienced) to improve plant performance. The second part of the package involved securing the exemptions needed to buy surplus electricity and contract for spares and OEM services. The third component, Gordhan said, involved removing any residual red tape in the way of investments by the private sector into additional generation capacity, either through the formal procurement processes run by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, or through the lifting of restriction on distributed generation and solar rooftop installations. Such new capacity could be introduced in a period of between 12 months and 36 months and would be key to laying the basis for long-term energy security and a decarbonised electricity sector. Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe indicated that, while the next renewables bidding round would be delayed by between 45 and 60 days to cater for its doubling from 2 600 MW to 5 200 MW, he was committed to ensuring additional non-E...

Today I am joined by legendary author John Laband to find out all about Major General Sir George Pomeroy Colley - the British commander who lost the 1st Anglo-Boer War of 1880-81.  John has written a number of books on this fascinating conflict. The links are below inc a discount code from Helion books: The Battle of Majuba - https://www.helion.co.uk/military-history-books/the-battle-of-majuba-hill-the-transvaal-campaign-1880-1881.php?sid=fa741aea78a7a5f46bb2482c1ebc41cc The code is : MAJUBA20 and this will give a discount of 20% against RRP from 12 May to 30 June (please note code only valid on print editions, not digital versions) Please sign up for my mailing list over at www.redcoathistory.com 

A clash of culture and military doctrine - why did the Boers win the 1st Anglo-Boer War of 1880-81? John has written a number of books on this fascinating conflict. The links are below inc a discount code from Helion books:   The Battle of Majuba - https://www.helion.co.uk/military-history-books/the-battle-of-majuba-hill-the-transvaal-campaign-1880-1881.php?sid=fa741aea78a7a5f46bb2482c1ebc41cc   The code is : MAJUBA20 and this will give a discount of 20% against RRP from 12 May to 30 June (please note code only valid on print editions, not digital versions)   Please sign up for my mailing list over at www.redcoathistory.com   

Eskom CEO André de Ruyter has revealed that the utility is compiling a “consolidated proposal” on how to end the ongoing electricity crisis, including how to introduce much-needed new generation capacity in the shortest possible time. The State-owned utility estimates the current shortfall to be between 4 000 MW and 6 000 MW and has argued that, unless addressed, Eskom will continue to have limited headroom to address serious maintenance backlogs across its breakdown-prone coal fleet. De Ruyter, who has acknowledged that South Africans are tired of ongoing load-shedding, reported this week that Eskom was engaging with various local and international experts on the proposal, which will be delivered to both its shareholder department and the policy department once completed. De Ruyter has previously outlined various short-term measures that could be pursued to address intensifying load-shedding, including: implementing a three-year standard offer to buy the 500 MW- to 600 MW-worth of surplus electricity believed to be available from private generators; amending contracts with existing renewable energy independent power producers (IPPs) to unlock a further 200 MW that is currently contractually disallowed from injection into the grid; facilitating IPP plant improvements to add additional capacity at existing facilities; and debottlenecking the evacuation infrastructure servicing those IPPs to potentially unlock a further 200 MW to 300 MW. Eskom has also indicated its strong support for the cutting of the residual red tape standing in the way of more than 4 000 MW of distributed generation capacity that could be introduced as a result of a recent market reform allowing sub-100 MW projects to proceed without a licence. The utility will also lease grid-accessible land in and around its Majuba and Tutuka power stations to facilitate an accelerated uptake of the 100 MW opportunity. De Ruyter did not elaborate on the possible contents of the new proposal, but pointed to examples in other countries, such as Vietnam and India, where large amounts of new capacity was introduced in a short period of time following policy and regulatory changes. “So it is possible to add significant capacity quite quickly,” he said. “We are in the process of soliciting views and opinions with a view to putting forward a consolidated proposal to the policy department as well as our shareholder that can be used to resolve the electricity crisis. “I believe that there are levers to be pulled and that these can be pulled quite effectively. “But this is not something that is going to happen easily and certainly is not only within the purview of Eskom to make happen. “We are in the hands of a policy environment that needs to be conducive and needs to enable the addition of that capacity.”

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana reports that work is under way with the private sector to unblock the remaining obstacles to investment of about R54-billion in embedded generation projects. Speaking during a presentation of Operation Vulindlela's first quarter progress report, Godongwana said he was aware of frustrations over the slow pace of the structural reforms being championed under the initiative, including those designed to address the electricity crisis. However, he said that the majority of the 26 high-priority reforms had either been completed or were “progressing well”, with seven experiencing implementation delays or critical challenges. The progress update lists the emergency procurement of 2 000 MW of new generation capacity, as well as the initiative to improve the energy availability factor of the Eskom fleet to 70% as facing “critical challenges in implementation”. However, the progress dashboard marks as “completed” the reform raising the licencing threshold for embedded generation from 1 MW to 100 MW. The Presidency's project management office head Rudi Dicks said that a distinction needed to be made between the actual implementation of the 100 MW reform, which was unveiled by President Cyril Ramaphosa and Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe in June last year, and the “follow-through” required to ensure implementation. He said the announcement of the reform was “an important step” in itself as it set in motion a process of ensuring that miners and other energy intensive businesses reduced demand on the national grid by being allowed to develop their own generation. “When we look at a reform there is a particular objective . but underneath that there may be a number of other areas that constrain us in getting to the point of greater levels of investment, economic growth and employment,” Dicks explained. In the case of the 100 MW reform, the raising of the licensing threshold had unlocked a “robust investment pipeline” of 58 projects, with a combined energy generating potential of 4 547 MW. However, several obstacles remained in ensuring these were made “shovel ready”, Dicks said. A joint task team, involving government departments and agencies, the Minerals Council South Africa and the Energy Intensive Users Group was, thus, meeting weekly to track progress, resolve obstacles at an individual project level, as well as to address remaining constraints at a systemic level. Dicks reported that the task team is working to address the following issues: shortening the timeframes for environmental impact assessments and water-use licenses through the designation of embedded generation projects as Strategic Infrastructure Projects; creating dedicated capacity in Eskom to process grid-connection applications more quickly; putting in place wheeling frameworks and tariffs at the municipal level; and simplifying the National Energy Regulator of South Africa's (Nersa's) registration process, including by addressing onerous requirements, such as the stipulation that a power purchase agreement be included at registration. “All national departments, as well as Eskom, Nersa and the South African Local Government Association are cooperating actively to address these challenges,” Dicks confirmed. He said that, if cleared, projects could be connected between 2022 and 2024. During an earlier briefing, Eskom CEO André de Ruyter reported that more than 30 potential investors had participated in briefings held at the Majuba and Tutuka power stations, where the utility is preparing to offer 20-year leases to those investors seeking to take advantage of the 100 MW reform. He also announced that steps had been taken to improve the operation of its Grid Access Unit, which was responsible for issuing budget quotes for grid connection. “We have taken heed of the comments received from investors and also parties wishing to feed electricity into the grid, that our grid access unit processes were slow and cumbersome and...

This is the first in a new short series examining the 1st Anglo-Boer War aka the Transvaal rebellion. In today's video we walk the Battlefield of Bronkhorstspruit and I am joined by historian John Laband. John has written a number of books on this fascinating conflict. The links are below inc a discount code from Helion books:   The Battle of Majuba - https://www.helion.co.uk/military-history-books/the-battle-of-majuba-hill-the-transvaal-campaign-1880-1881.php?sid=fa741aea78a7a5f46bb2482c1ebc41cc   The code is : MAJUBA20 and this will give a discount of 20% against RRP from 12 May to 30 June (please note code only valid on print editions, not digital versions)   The Transvaal rebellion - https://amzn.to/3HK99FI   If you are interested in the Zulu War, then please sign up for my mailing list to receive my free book on the subject: www.redcoathistory.com If you are very generous, you can also buy me a coffee and help support the channel via: https://ko-fi.com/redcoathistory 

Eskom CEO André de Ruyter says the power utility is facing two decades of unattended maintenance. Briefing the media yesterday, de Ruyter accused his predecessors of delaying the introduction of the Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme for a number of years. He says currently there was an additional 200 Mega Watts of power available from independent power producers, but contractually they are being prevented from feeding this into the grid, due to government regulations. Yesterday Eskom implemented stage 4 load-shedding after its Majuba unit 5 and Tutuka unit 4 tripped. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to former Eskom CEO, Mr. Matshela Koko

A record number of breakdowns at Eskom's generating units is weighing on South Africa's power grid. The power utility escalated rolling blackouts to Stage 4 after the Majuba and Tutuka Units tripped. Day TV spoke to Andre De Ruyter, CEO of Eskom for more detail on the state of the power grid.

Finally ... the door is open for Christiaan De Wet to wage guerrilla warfare as the British close in on Pretoria. Does the door slam in his face, or does he throw it wide open? The Battle of Korn Spruit (aka Sanna's Post) will tell you. 1) If you’d to play free poker with me online, contact me using this link: https://forgottenwarspodcast.com/contact/ 2) Grow yourself and support the show using this Master Class link: https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=797461&u=2673298&m=62509&urllink=&afftrack= 3) As of May 26th, 2021, this show has been operating in the red for nearly a year. This is normal for many podcasts, BUT most podcasts don't last long. Help the show go on. Choose one of many ways to get more and support the show using this link: https://forgottenwarspodcast.com/donate/ 4) I alluded back to episode 1.18's telling of the Jameson Raid; here is the link in case you wanted to circle back on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-1-18-drifts-crisis-jameson-raid-in-this-installment/id1535351938?i=1000506044631

Piet Cronje lets himself get circled by Lord Kitchener & Lord Roberts. Cecil Rhodes flexes his obnoxious muscle at Kimberley. Thousands of men and animals will face starvation, dehydration, and exhaustion. This isn’t going to end well. Notes- Try Fiverr & help the show: https://track.fiverr.com/visit/?bta=231913&nci=9380 Read my article “Where Are All the Horses?” before it goes behind a paywall at this link: https://forgottenwarspodcast.com/blog/ Indian Mutiny/Sepoy Mutiny of 1857-1858 video from Simple History- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rKrYVjgWQg Episode 1.13 on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1-13-the-rebellion-is-over-what-about-machine-guns/id1535351938?i=1000499411345 Episode 1.13 on Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9KM09KV0xIeQ/episode/YzdjNWRjOTctMDkxMS00NWU4LTg5OGYtMmY3ZjZlMmEwYmUz?sa=X&ved=0CAUQkfYCahgKEwjoi8mrmaTwAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQjAE

Botha and Buller both attempt aggression in January 1900 at Platrand & Spion Kop. Their results are both the same ... and different. Donate $50 to the show and get all your episodes commercial-free using link: https://forgottenwarspodcast.com/donate/

Buller's "premonitions" are confirmed at Colenso and Methuen makes mistakes at Magersfontein. 1. Contact me using this link: https://forgottenwarspodcast.com/contact/ 2. The link to the article I wrote about balloons used in 19th-century warfare, especially in the South African War: https://forgottenwarspodcast.com/blog/ 3. The link to a mask that will serve you well for months or quickly become a great vintage item :) https://forgottenwarspodcast.com/product/mask-w-black-background/ 4. The link to see Master Classes choices and support the show at the same time: https://www.masterclass.com/?utm_content=Text&utm_campaign=MC&utm_source=Paid&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_term=Aq-Prospecting&sscid=41k5_jmdlv

In today's killer crime documentary, we're covering the case of the most DISTURBING murder you've NEVER heard of: THE MAJUBA MURDERS. In 1980, a man who mysteriously went by the name of Teepee Fox was traveling through the Nevada desert, hitchhiking deeper into the middle of nowhere. Little did anyone know that they were traveling with a soon-to-be-murderer. After driving through endless dirt roads and ending up in complete desolation, Teepee Fox was dropped off at the Majuba Mines where his bizarre crime would soon begin. There, in the middle of nowhere, lived the Strode family - and the murder that was about to be committed would go on to shock Pershing County in the years to come. Join us for a true crime storytime covering the unhinged killer who seemed to commit a heinous crime at complete random: the Majuba Murderer. Podcast Is Available On Anchor: anchor.fm/scaryrealstories Breaker: www.breaker.audio/scary-real-stories Google Podcasts: www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hb Pocket Casts: pca.st/50xqmhdv RadioPublic: radiopublic.com/scary-real-stories-WawDQM --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/atruecrimepodcast/message

The last six weeks have been a short sharp shock for our British friends who've visited the veld and the semi-desert in the Northern Cape and the green hills of Natal. Things have moved apace since war was declared on October 10th. It's Christmas 1899 and across South Africa, few people are feeling festive. In the South West, Methuen has been held up as he tried to race to Kimberley to relieve the siege and where the arch imperialist Cecil John Rhodes is residing, demanding a saviour rescue him. In Natal, a disaster befell the British at Colenso with over 1 thousand 130 casualties as Sir Redvers Buller tried to reach Ladysmith where 13 000 British soldiers were holed up - besieged. That led to Buller being fired as the commander in chief of forces in South Africa. Lord Roberts who was in Ireland was assigned the job of leading the Army Corps after Buller's shambolic record and strategic blunders. Roberts, however, is still preparing to depart for Cape Town and there's still time for Buller to create mischief and so he does as we'll see next week with the terrible battle of Spion kop. If ever the word “carnage” summed up a singular event, its Spion Kop. But before we hear about Spion Kop our focus must shift this week into Ladysmith itself, where the small town on a railway line between the port of Durban and Johannesburg has become a strategic imperative. General Piet Joubert the Boer commander had surrounded the town and then betted on General White eventually surrendering without too deadly a clash. He was wrong. The British were not going to make the same mistake they made in 1881 after they were defeated at Majuba. This time they wanted the Boers to surrender in utter defeat whatever the human cost to both sides.

Yesterday, Eskom has started rolling blackouts across the country, due to the loss of 1 800 Mega Watts at the Majuba power station. The power Utility has implemented rotational load shedding, to deal with damages that were caused by the collapse of its coal storage silo at the Majuba power station in Mpumalanga.Residents in Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, and Cape Town have experienced power cuts. AM Live host Sakina Kamwendo spoke to Eskom spokesperson Andrew Etzinger.

Die kragverskaffer Eskom loop deur onder kritiek, met bykans die ganse land wat beurtkrag sal moet verduur. Instandhouding blyk die grootste probleem te wees. 'n Silo met tonne steenkool by Eskom se Majuba-kragstasie het die naweek ineengestort, en kragvoorsiening is as gevolg daarvan beperk.

South Africans should brace themselves for yet another series of power cuts by Eskom. The power utility says in a statement the load shedding would start at 8 a.m. and run till 10 p.m. It says it has lost one-thousand-800 megawatts at the Majuba power station that was now operating at a reduced capacity of one-thousand-300 megawatt. Eskom spokesperson, Andrew Etzinger....