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Eskom records low diesel usage and spend

The Medupi Power Station near Lephalale. Picture Credit: Gallo Images
The Medupi Power Station near Lephalale. Picture Credit: Gallo Images

Eskom has reported lower diesel usage and spend for its open cycle gas turbines (OCGT)‚ which use diesel to generate electricity‚ from October 2015 until April 2016.

It attributes the lower diesel usage and spend to an improved performance of its base-load fleet.

 “The energy sent out from OCGTs has decreased from 381GWh in October 2015 to 6GWh in April 2016. This has resulted in a decrease in diesel costs from R854m to less than R25m over the same period. The OCGT load factor has also decreased from 21.2% to 0.4%.

 “This week‚ in terms of OCGT usage we have only run two units on Thursday thus far and recorded a month to date load factor of 0.32%‚” the electricity parastatal says.

 Due to the increased resilience that Eskom has built into the power system over the past few months‚ no load shedding has been implemented since August 2015 (except for 2 hours and 20 minutes) leading to close to 300 days without load shedding‚ it adds.

 “The generation plant performance is steadily continuing on an upward trajectory. The year to date performance stands at an energy availability factor (EAF) of 76.87%‚ planned maintenance of 12% and total unplanned breakdowns of 11.13%.

 “This week‚ Eskom experienced the highest peak of the year‚ of 34 066 MW‚ which we were able to meet comfortably.

 “Eskom will continue with its rigorous programme of planned maintenance without load shedding while also minimising usage of the OCGTs‚” the electricity propvider says.

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