Unavailable power on SA grid ‘equivalent to combined SADC supply’
An energy expert says the more than 23 000 megawatts unavailable on the country’s electricity grid is equivalent to a combined supply in the Southern African Development Community.
This is as South Africans will enter another week of load shedding at stage 6 with no indication when the planned power cuts will end.
The utility is struggling with several breakdowns at power stations around the country while it is also trying to do planned maintenance.
Energy expert Ruse Moleshe says the decision by national energy regulator Nersa to grant Eskom a combined 33% tariff increase over the next two financial years was driven by Eskom’s own inefficiency.
READ: SALGA: Electricity tariff hike will lead to more illegal connections
“For instance, Eskom is running the diesel inefficiently and the low factors are too high compared to where Eskom is supposed to be, so they reduced that to a certain extent. They've also reduced the operational costs because maintenance has not been done, and some of the money that was meant for maintenance is being used elsewhere. So some of the inefficacy is taken care of through Nersa adjusting the tariff."
She says according to the country's law, the electricity supplier, should be compensated for all the costs incurred when generating power.
"So Eskom will be granted if they can prove that the cost they have used was in producing electricity. However, they are expected to do so efficiently which is why Nersa is able to adjust."
