Ramaphosa unveils plan to end load shedding
President Cyril Ramaphosa has outlined a new plan of action aimed at bringing an end to the country's energy crisis.
South Africans and the economy have been severely affected by loadshedding in recent weeks, with Eskom having to introduce stage 6 power cuts to keep the electricity system intact.
Addressing the nation last night, Ramaphosa announced interventions to deal with the crisis. First to fix Eskom - they'll need to increase the utility's fleet of power stations
“Over time the maintenance program of Eskom electricity generation fleet has declined.
It has now been decided over the next 12 months, that Eskom will increase the budget allocated for critical maintenance to increase the reliability of its generation capacity," Ramaphosa said in a national address on Monday evening.
Ramaphosa said first, Eskom will need to increase its fleet of power stations.
He unveiled government's plan that aims to bring an end to the energy crisis on Monday evening.
South Africans have been severely affected by loadshedding in recent weeks, with Eskom having to introduce stage 6 power cuts to keep the electricity system intact.
The president said the government is roping in specialist teams.
"The utility is now putting skilled personnel including former senior Eskom plant managers and engineers from the private sector. Some of these have left Eskom and have gone to various parts of the world and Eskom is now seeking to bring them back."
From its side, Eskom will add new generation capacity immediately.
"As an immediate measure, surplus capacity will be bought from existing power producers," the president said.
"These are power plants which built more capacity than required and can now supply this excess power to Eskom.
READ: Ramaphosa announces host of measures to end power cuts
"As part of addressing the shortage of Megawatts, Eskom will purchase additional energy from existing private generators such as mines, paper mills, shopping centres and other private entities that have surplus power."
This includes importing power from neighbouring countries which have more capacity than they require.
Government wants to procure new capacity from renewable energy like gas and battery storage.
Ramaphosa said enabling businesses and households to invest in roof-top solar installations is the next step.
"To incentivise a greater uptake of rooftop solar, Eskom will develop rules and a pricing structure known as a feed-in tariff for all commercial and residential installations on its network.”
“This means that those who can and have installed solar panels in their homes or businesses will be able to sell surplus power they don’t need to Eskom,” the president said.
