Following Eskom‘s announcement that the open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs) are “physically run out, empty and will not be refuelled”, Professor Anton Eberhard has warned this can cause a serious national blackout.
Also read: High fuel prices and unpaid bills add to woes for Eskom
The director of the Power Futures Lab at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business’s concern was also triggered by Eskom’s plans to refill the turbines in April 2023 because it has exhausted the diesel budget for the year, removing 2,067MW from rapid response resources.
Currently, Eskom has not ordered additional diesel and has no outstanding orders, so the OCGTs will be out of action till next year.
According to the Daily Investor, Eskom’s new OCGTs are “intended to be used during peak periods and emergency situations to supply electricity to the national grid”.
Eberhard told the Daily Investor that “the cost of unserved energy for South Africa’s economy is much higher than the cost of running the Ankerlig (1,327MW) and Gourikwa (740MW) OCGT diesel plants.”
“At a time of intermittent and declining coal plant output, it increases the risk of more load-shedding and system failure.”
The looming risk of national blackouts at the moment is due to the high demand that is exceeding supply, which is straining the national grid.
Switch gears, cables and transformers are overloaded and once they start tripping the “trip-outs will spread like a wave of darkness sweeping the country.”
Once the power is out Eskom would need weeks to bring back power “from scratch.”
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Picture: Cape{town}Etc/ Murray Swart