Eskom confident in electricity system ahead of summer

Eskom, the South African power utility, has expressed its confidence in the state of the electricity system as it gears up for the upcoming summer season.

In its summer outlook, Eskom has set a goal to keep rolling blackouts at a level below stage four during the summer months. The key to achieving this objective, according to the utility, is to ensure that unplanned load loss remains under the threshold of 14 500 megawatts.

Acting Eskom Group Chief Executive, Calib Cassim, shared this optimistic outlook during a media briefing held at Eskom’s Megawatt Park headquarters in Sunninghill, Johannesburg.

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Cassim says, “This outlook for summer is projecting a figure of 14 500 megawatts, and why are we confident in this projection? It’s because we are bringing back over 2 000 megawatts from Kusile, including the three units plus unit 5. This is why we are confident in the 14 500 megawatt projection. When formulating this outlook and considering various scenarios, we factored in the return of units from temporary stacks coming online at the end of November and December. We are also set to commission Kusile unit 3, followed by unit 1 and unit 2, earlier than initially anticipated.”

#EskomMediaStatement

Eskom gives an update on the state of the power system and summer outlook#Eskom pic.twitter.com/duhYwTkKTE

— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) September 27, 2023