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South Africa's Eskom intends to limit winter season power cuts

South Africa's state power utility Eskom said on Friday that it would most likely be able to restrict rolling power cuts over the winter months as the outlook for its fleet of power stations had improved.

Eskom has battled to keep the lights on for more than a. years in Africa's most industrialised economy, however things got. especially bad last year when interruptions reached record levels of. approximately 10 hours a day for numerous businesses and homes.

The factors consist of an upkeep backlog at its creaking. coal-fired power stations, years of corruption and. smaller-than-requested tariff walkings that have left it with a. mountain of financial obligation.

Eskom Chief Executive Dan Marokane, addressing his first. news conference because taking the helm of the business in March,. said there had actually been an enhancement in power plant reliability,. with unintended losses and trips decreasing thanks to a. conclusion of interventions that began a year back.

A likely circumstance was Eskom would only turn to Stage 2. outages throughout the southern hemisphere winter season, approximately. April to August, he stated.

Stage 2 power cuts require approximately 2,000 megawatts of capacity. to be shed from the nationwide grid, whereas last year Eskom. regularly had to resort to Stage 6 power cuts - the greatest. level.

The recurring outages are a significant drag on financial development. and a source of public frustration in the lead-up to a basic. election in May, when analysts say the governing African. National Congress party's parliamentary bulk is at risk for. the first time since the end of apartheid.

Marokane informed press reporters that under Eskom's base case there. would be 50 days of power cuts from April to August which. Eskom would invest about 8.8 billion rand