Posts tagged with 'power'

 

Chaos erupts at OR Tambo as travellers scramble through the darkness after entire Kempton Park region has been plunged into darkness

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There was an eerie feel to the corridors of OR Tambo International Airport on Sunday, as a power cut rendered a majority of its electricity supply useless. A nearby sub-station had exploded earlier in the morning, and the entire Kempton Park region has been plunged into darkness – including SA’s busiest travel hub.

Despite the lack of electricity, the show must go on at OR Tambo. Thousands of travellers have carried on with their business as usual since the power went out – but it’s made life extremely difficult for some.

How OR Tambo has been affected by the blackout

South Africans have been questioning whether the power failure was linked to the recent round of load shedding experienced in the country. We can confirm that’s not the case, and it is solely related to the sub-station fire. However, what does seem to be a head-scratcher is why the back-up generators aren’t working. Complaints raised with the blackout include:

Long queues at passpo
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NO SABOTAGE AT ESKOM – POWER GRID IN SA FACES TOTAL COLLAPSE

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Now the truth comes out, and it is not what Ramaphosa told you . Ramaphosa told the country this past Wednesday that sabotage was the reason for phase 6 loadshedding and it happened when an unspecified instrument was disconnected from one of the boilers at the Tutuka power station and that this led to the loss of as much as 2000MW of power.

But in an investigation by Rapport this statement was found not to be true.

The truth is a lack of planning and maintenance of power stations, especially the boilers. Rapport has spoken to both an energy expert, Mike Rossouw, and Solidarity who has many members in that sector and the true state of Eskom was revealed by them. The loss of 2 units at Tutuka power station, where Ramaphosa said sabotage is to blame, has more logical reasons and it boils down to a lack of maintenance.

Deon Reyneke, Solidarity trade union’s deputy head responsible for Eskom, has given the true reasons for the loss of 2 units at Tutuka. The first
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Court deals Soweto residents who wants to pay a flat tarrif of R150 a month for electricity a blow by striking case off the roll

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Soweto owes R20bn to power provider Eskom, but residents of the township only want to pay R150 a month for their power. Mpho Sesedinyane, ANC councilor and chair of the South African National Civic Organization (Sanco) in Soweto, feels that R150 is a fair amount and that, given the state of the economy, the residents can only afford to pay this much a month for power.

However, Eskom rejected the proposal of a fixed power tariff of R150 per month for electricity. Eskom spokesperson Reneilwe Semenya said this proposal by community leaders in Soweto was unrealistic and residents had to pay for what they consumed. He also referred to the Johannesburg High Court which on Tuesday rejected an application to restore power supply to Soweto and allow residents to pay a flat rate for power.

Soweto owes R20 billion of the R420 billion owed to the Johannesburg metro power supplier. Semenya believes that if a fixed power tariff is set, it will certainly give rise to a culture
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Power grid remains under pressure, possibility of load shedding not eliminated

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The electricity network remains under pressure and, according to Eskom, there is still the possibility of load shedding for today and the rest of the week, but will only be applied if absolutely necessary.

According to Eskom, unplanned interruptions at 22:00 on Sunday were slightly less than 10,000 MW and good progress was made over the weekend to supplement diesel reserves for the open-cycle gas turbines and water levels with the pump storage schemes.

The power provider said the power grid is still being monitored hourly at its emergency response control center and that the situation at its generation plants is unpredictable.

“Eskom wants to remind its customers that any unexpected changes such as additional interruptions or the unavailability of diesel for the gas turbines or declining water levels at the pump storage schemes could lead to short-term power short notice.”

Meanwhile, another generation unit at the Kusile power station was synchronized for t
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Eskom which is battling with R441 billion debt, won’t be privatized – ANC-regime’s plan to save the power supplier from ruin disappointing

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Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan yesterday unveiled the government’s latest blueprint to kickstart Eskom, which proposes major shifts in the ailing entity’s business model. Politicians, as well as political analysts and financial experts are disappointed in the plan, whose content can be vague and probably poorly implemented, as announced by the minister. Not only did he disappointed South Africa but also the credit rating agencies with his “plan” to save the power supplier from ruin.

Experts point out that the ANC will not privatize Eskom, because it is then out of their hands, and the fear exists that hundreds of ANC members will be fired because it is an overall overpopulated workforce.

Gordhan recommended, among other things, that the various power plants be divided into groups and have to compete with each other over who can generate the cheapest power, but experts say it will bring no harm to the entity’s financial position.

The turnaround plan
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59 billion bailout just been granted to struggling Eskom

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The National Assembly voted in favor of a special allocation bill on Tuesday that allows a bailout of R59 billion to struggling Eskom.

The bill was approved by 200 votes to 105 with ANC MPs believing the bill is essential to keep the lights on. These MPs argued that many of them grew up in a “permanent state of loadshedding” due to past inequalities.

Others, however, were opposed to this bill.

Nqabayomzi Kwankwa, MP of the United Democratic Movement (UDM), said it was astonishing that MPs were asked to “throw money at the problem” after Eskom reportedly paid R4bn to suppliers too much.

Eskom is about R500bn in the red.

DA Ashor Sarupen said Eskom seems to be burning money instead of coal. “Every citizen is a hostage of Eskom. We are hostages to the power cuts that cause huge economic losses. We are hostages to their bail requirements. We are hostages to their endless management crises, ”says Sarupen.

Wouter Wessels, FF Plus MP and chief spokespers
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#RollingBlackouts are back due to a shortage of power generation at Eskom power stations contributed by lack of skill

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Eskom announced early on Wednesday that phase 2 load shedding will be activated from 09:00 to 23:00. The severe power constraints are apparently caused by a broken coal conveyor belt at the Medupi power station. This reduced the station’s power supply by half. The struggling power supplier said in a brief statement that due to a lack of generating capacity, he was forced to take this step.

According to Eskom, they have been extensively using the help of pump generators and open cycle gas turbines since Saturday to make up for the electricity shortage, but cannot sustain due to the decline in dam and diesel levels. In addition, five generating units are not available due to boiler tube leaks. As a result, the state entity then had to implement Phase 2 Load shedding from 9:00 am to 11:00 pm which dumps 2000 MW of power on a rotational basis to prevent a total collapse in the power grid. Phase 1 is the ‘lightest’ load shedding schedule, while up to 4,000 MW of power ca
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Unproductive Eskom drags Nersa to court over reduced power tariffs showing financial deficit of R102 billion

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The greedy Eskom, which fails to become profitable on its own, and constantly stands by the ANC government, has now taken its arrogance a step further, according to financial experts.

The bankrupt power provider has already taken steps to approach the Supreme Court in a case against Nersa’s decision to grant a lower rate than requested.

The National Energy Regulator (Nersa) and Eskom are reportedly in conflict with each other and Eskom claims that the reduction in tariff increases means that it will show a further deficit of R102 billion.

Nersa has allowed 9.41% and 6.1% and 5.22% increases in tariffs for the next three years, but the unproductive Eskom is very dissatisfied and has now approached the court.

Experts once again point out that Eskom is in control with the levy after the ANC government repeatedly said that delivery of power is a priority. Eskom saw it as a leverage to continue with its poor management, overcrowded and unproductive staff, and qu
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Medupi and Kusile power stations are still “off the grid” due to poor construction work, corruption and cost overruns

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More than 600 senior officials from Eskom and some executives were informed of the entity’s “turnaround” plan. According to documentation, Eskom is sitting without cash and has almost completely collapsed on several occasions.

R130bn has been loaned to the power provider and the state is expected to help as government announces increased tariffs. Eskom unbundling continues but will take four years to finalize. So the future is still bleak around the entity with its overloaded workforce and top structure officials.

In the last two years, Eskom reported a loss of R2.3 billion while R19.6 billion was wasted on unauthorized expenses.

In the meantime, Medupi and Kusile power stations are still “off the grid” due to poor construction work, corruption and cost overruns.

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Multi-Billion coal-fired power station in crisis – Not one of Kusile’s six units is delivering power into the grid due to lack of skill and maintenance

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Eleven years after construction started on Eskom’s massive 4800 MW Kusile coal-fired power station in Mpumalanga province, South Africa, not one of its six 800 MW generator units is currently delivering power into the grid.

Construction started at Kusile in 2008, and all six generation units were planned to be in commercial service by the end of 2014. However, the sad reality is that by the end of July 2019, five years after 2014, only Unit 1 at Kusile has been handed over for commercial service.

While Units 2 and 3 have been synchronised to the grid, they are still undergoing testing and commissioning, and the units are not in commercial service yet.

“It must be noted that only Unit 1 is in commercial operation, and Units 2 and 3 are still in the commissioning process following first synchronisation”, said Eskom deputy spokesperson Dikatso Mothae yesterday.

But worse, major design, execution and operational problems are being exper
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