ISSUE 217 - FREE
29
MARCH 2019
COMMUNITY NEWS. ORIGINAL - ACCURATE - FIRST
017 631 1903 / 017 631 1845 • admin@thebulletin.co.za • 1 Kiewiet Street, Secunda (Lake Umuzi)
Eskom sends mixed signals The recent load shedding that gripped the country had a lot of people up in arms. The social media pages were buzzing with questions and suggestions. Zello groups were inundated with calls about the load shedding schedules and the messages on the Facebook page “Secunda Utilities Forum” had to be updated on a daily basis to keep residents in the know. The problem also lies with the way that Eskom handles the situation. At one stage Eskom admitted that preparations for stage 5 and 6 are underway but within a week suspended the load shedding. There were even talks of a national blackout. The national power grid is very fragile at the moment. The following article from mybroadband.co.za makes it very clear that Eskom is in deep trouble: Eskom is preparing for stage 5 and stage 6 load shedding, according to a report by Fin24. The report stated that Eskom and government officials said there is a “race against time to ensure that a
national blackout and grid collapse does not happen”. Stage 5 and 6 load shedding require 5,000MW and 6,000MW to be shed from the grid respectively. In 2019, Eskom has not implemented anything above stage 4 load shedding to date. No end in sight During a briefing from Public Enterprises Minister, Pravin Gordhan, today, South Africans looking for an indication of when load shedding will end were left disappointed. Eskom and Gordhan said they do not have answers on when the power cuts will stop. “I know the most important issue for South Africans is how long will this last and when will you be able to give us the certainty that load shedding will end. At this point in time we are still getting a better grasp of the technical problems and other problems that Eskom power stations are confronting,” said Gordhan. Big problems Energy expert Chris Yelland has also warned that Eskom is facing many
immediate problems which South Africans are not being told about. These problems are: South Africa is out of diesel, which is needed to run backup diesel-fuelled power stations but on Thursday, a major shipment of diesel arrived at our shores. This is the more expensive — but necessary — alternative to power generation. Diesel is the alternative to the use of coal to power up gas turbines that, in turn, convert energy into power. According to Andrew Etzinger, the Power Utility’s head of generation, the offloading of about 13-million litres of diesel will go a long way into allowing the power utility the much-needed time it requires to mend the technical and infrastructural issues in its power generation units. Pumped storage dams are low. There is no power from Mozambique’s Cahora-Bassa hydroelectric generation station, this situation has improved slightly. “Eskom’s power generation capabilities were further strained by events that took place in Mozambique. Two transmission lines that feed power
into South Africa were destroyed by Cyclone Idai. Thankfully, after the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) was deployed to the CahoraBassa hydroelectric dam to assess and service the issues, one of the two transmission lines has been restored. As reported by Tech Central, this has allowed an estimated 890MW of power supply into the country, which is the main reason why things are looking positive heading into this weekend.” Eskom is missing 5,000MW of power from 8 generator units, which are down due to boiler tube leaks. Three generator units are running, but with boiler tube leaks which place them at risk. There are many other unplanned outages at Eskom. Energy advisor Ted Blom said a total blackout in South Africa is “totally possible”. “All you need for a total blackout to occur is one accident by Eskom. It can be staff going to the bathroom or a malfunction in a switch and you can have dire consequences,” Blom said. But for now, there is no load shedding!