According to energy experts, data from Eskom indicates a significant improvement in power availability across South Africa. However, they also caution that the possibility of winter loadshedding still looms.Earlier this week, Electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa announced that the country experienced at least 54 days without loadshedding, and he thanked the ‘hard work of officials’ at Eskom for the improvement.
‘If you look at the period that they were on load on average was previously about 17% and then now, we are just shy of 6%. So it’s a considerable drop in the usage. From the 1st of April 2024 to the 16th of May, Eskom spent R1.24 billion in engaging the OCGTs. The same period last year…we burnt R5.2 billion worth of diesel. Essentially, we have seen a drop of 78%.’
‘The grid will be slightly constrained in winter, and we’re looking at least Stage 2 loadshedding if demand rises to over 34 000MW.’