Electricity Minister Ramokgopa reiterates govt’s goal to eradicate power cuts

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has reiterated the government’s goal to reduce the intensity of load shedding and ultimately eradicate it.

Ramokgopa on Friday extended his visits to Eskom power stations by meeting with the executives of the Ankerlig and Koeberg power stations in the Western Cape.

Minister Ramokgopa said that he’d been meeting with the executives at various power stations for an update on their plans to improve electricity generation.

“We did make a commitment to the South African public that we’re going to visit these power stations and once I’ve completed this exercise I’ll be in a position to communicate where we are and what those timelines are.”

Ramokgopa said that they expected unit 1 at the Koeberg nuclear power station to come back online by July this year.

“We are likely going to miss the target of 23 July to get the additional 920 megawatts. To put it into context it is one stage of load shedding so that was going to help us to bring it down, but unfortunately, that is not the case, so we need to place greater effort on those 13 power stations, to improve their energy availability factor.”

Ramokgopa earlier this week visited the Kusile power station, which has an energy availability factor of 19%.

This is the amount of energy the plant can produce over a specific time period, compared to the actual amount of energy produced during that time.

-EWN

In other news – TK Nciza pays lobola for his fiancée

South African politician and entrepreneur, TK Nciza pays lobola for his fiancee Lebo Phasha through his uncles. According to ZiMoja, the ex-husband of Nhlanhla Mafuhas moved on and is set to start a new family with his new partner.

“Family helps to ground one’s character. Even the Bible says ‘He who finds a wife, finds a good thing. I am a very private person, I can’t share all details, but I am happy’. Learn More