Power generation will be a challenge this winter, says Eskom’s Calib Cassim

Eskom’s acting group chief executive, Calib Cassim, said the utility’s main focus is to minimize and keep the load-shedding level as low as possible during winter.

Cassim was addressing delegates at the opening of the power and energy conference, Enlit Africa, on Tuesday morning.

The three-day event is currently underway at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

Eskom’s acting group chief executive, Calib Cassim, agreed that power generation this winter would be challenging.

“A year ago, during winter, we had three units of Kusile operating, which no longer are available during this winter, that equates to 2,000MW. We’ve also had last year this time both units of Koeberg operating, that’s another 900 MW that’s not available.”

Cassim emphasized that he was confident the country would not experience a complete electricity blackout.

“The reality is it’s going to be tough. If we can keep the peaks at stage 6 or lower and during off-peaks at stage 4, I think we’re going to have a successful winter, understanding where the winter is looking in terms of the permutations.”

Cassim, however, said that there was a positive outlook as the units at the Kusile power station, totalling 2,000 megawatts of power, was set to come back online towards the end of this year.

-EWN

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