ESKOM has again issued a warning over the supply and pricing of diesel, which it has been consuming at extreme levels in recent days to cover for its underperforming coal fleet, the energy availability factor (EAF) of which has now slumped to below 60%.
The State-owned utility deployed its open cycle gas turbine (OCGT) plants well beyond the peak periods for which they are designed on Monday and Tuesday, partly to replenish the upper dams at its pumped-storage schemes.ADVERTISEMENT
The OCGT plants were switched off only after midnight on Wednesday and resumed output again three hours later, largely because the coal EAF had fallen to about 58% and there were 16 coal units currently “at risk” of breaking down.
Early on Wednesday morning, Eskom decided to intensify load-shedding to Stage 4, or 4 000 MW of simultaneous cuts, as well as to extend its duration, largely to preserve diesel reserves in a context of persistent breakdowns of more than 15 000 MW and
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