Fewer units tripping and lower demand have improved generation capacity, says Ramokgopa
Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said that the country has had an unexpectedly improved generation capacity this winter, as fewer units have been tripping.
Ramokgopa was speaking at a media briefing on Sunday, updating the country on energy recovery plans.
He said this winter has delivered more positive results than expected, compared to some of the worst-case scenarios projected by his team at the beginning of the season.
“The projections or the assumptions that we had made when I introduced the winter plan… the best case scenario suggested that we should be in a position to keep the number of trips, failing units to 15 000 megawatts (mw) and we can see that consistently we have been right at 15 000 mw or less and one of the days we even recorded just below 14 000 mw.”
Ramokgopa added that South Africa’s most severe demand peak in the evening had still not reached the worst-case scenario projected in the winter outlook for the country.
“We had said that that peak demand would be about 34,000 megawatts and we can see that the highest we have reached was about 30,861 mw on the third of July.
He said colder weather patterns aren’t the only thing that affect demand.
“One is the average South African that is conscious of the situation that is confronting us so it’s not a condition that is about the weather but it’s about the judicious nature of the average household…and business contributing to this effort.”
The Electricity Minister also confirmed that the energy action plan will be set in action later this month.
-EWN
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