Committees are briefed on load shedding and maintenance backlogs
The Portfolio Committee on Energy had a joint oversight visit with the Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises to interact with Eskom to understand the challenges the company is facing. The presentation from Eskom focussed primarily on finance and corporate governance, operational performance, progress updates on new capacity and turnaround strategy.
Members of the Committees criticised Eskom for the high cost of diesel and coal supply. The Committees were of the view that Eskom should not be paying the inflated prices for these two commodities and asked if the price of the diesel could be re-negotiated. Furthermore, members of the Committees questioned why Eskom was not sourcing coal from mining companies that it co-owns rather than paying exorbitant amounts to short-term suppliers.
Committee members commented on the fact that the use of diesel was meant to be a short-term solution but in Eskom’s presentation it has now moved to a three-year plan.
The Committees also queried the success of the turnaround strategy, which aims amongst other things to address load shedding. The Committees were of the view that more needs to be done to address maintenance of the 40 power plants that contribute to planned and unplanned load shedding.
According to an Eskom report, a budget of R5 billion has been approved to address maintenance. The Committees expressed concern about the amount of money used for maintenance as it has not yielded the required outcome. The Committees said the presentation indicates that 30 days after maintenance had been completed, 50% of the units had to shut down.
The Committees urged Eskom to address load shedding so that the country can move to a position of maintenance without load shedding. The Committees noted the power utility’s report that the country has energy availability, but the issue currently facing Eskom is load shedding due maintenance of old power plants.
The Committees requested an update on the costs of the new build programme (Medupi, Kusile and Ingula).
The Committees noted with concern the numerous acting positions at an executive level. The Committees were of the view that this creates as instability.
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact:
Yoliswa Landu
Tel: 021 403 8203
Cell: 081 497 4694
Email: ylandu@parliament.gov.za
