The Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says Eskom’s generation capacity has reached 55%.
He says the power utility plans to push it up to 60% in the first quarter of next year.
Ramokgopa says the Kusile power station in Mpumalanga has been a star performer with the return of three generation units.
He told the media in Pretoria yesterday that Eskom had reduced its use of diesel, which he said was expensive and unsustainable.
Ramokgopa says, “When you have seen the lights are on, very little diesel has been burned, it has been the machines sustaining themselves. The highlights have been the return of these three Kusile units.”
“Don’t underestimate the fact that we delayed the decommissioning and part of the reason why we have not burned diesel even at higher levels of intensity, part of the reason why the lights are on and will remain on going into the near future, is because of these units that were meant to be taken out, these units continue to perform, Kamden, Hedrina,” he adds.
Ramokgopa says while the electricity system is healthier by 3 000 megawatts, the system remains unreliable.
Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa updates on the Energy Action Plan:
