Eskom has achieved an Energy Availability Factor of 70.78%, a feat last achieved nearly three years ago.
The Minister reflected that as the country was plunged into higher stages of load shedding due to heightened and extensive maintenance and other factors, the government argued that “the short-term pain would be eclipsed by long-term gains.” Ramokgopa said as a result of the improved performance of Eskom’s coal fleet, the power utility is less reliant on the Open Cycle Gas Turbines , which consume diesel.
“The load factor of the OCGT has decreased from what was previously 19.13% to now what is 6.8%. So we have reduced it by about 13 percentage points.The Electricity Minister warned that although there has been noteworthy improvement, more work must be done to resolve the energy challenge in its entirety.