Eskom performs maintenance over long weekend

© carloscastilla – za.fotolia.com

"Eskom's maintenance teams worked hard over the long weekend and were able to perform maintenance on 2,608MW of generating plant. They also returned 2,304MW of generating capacity back to service over this period," said the power parastatal on Sunday, 3 May.

The utility has over the past long weekend performed even more planned maintenance surpassing the first phase of the weekend maintenance it had previously performed.

The utility said that this is an improvement from last weekend's maintenance festival where technicians carried out planned maintenance on 2,303MW of its generating plant, returning 1,453MW back to service over that period.

The generating units that were taken out for scheduled maintenance this long-weekend included Duvha Unit 2 (575MW); Hendrina Unit 6 (190MW); Komati Unit 9 (114MW); Kriel Unit 6 (475MW); Majuba Unit 6 (669MW) and Tutuka Unit 4 (585MW).

The units that have been returned back online are Duvha Unit 2 (575MW); Majuba Unit 6 (669MW); Kriel Unit 5 (475MW); and Tutuka Unit 4 (585MW).

"Going forward, we plan to continue with our maintenance drive in an effort to close in on the backlog that has accumulated over the years due to the 'keeping the lights on' commitment.

"We appeal to electricity users once more to continue using electricity sparingly in order to allow us enough room to continue with the requisite maintenance so that in the long run our power stations can perform more efficiently," said acting chief executive Brian Molefe.

Eskom needs a minimum of 3,000MW and maximum of 5,000MW buffer either through supply-side or demand-side options in order to close the maintenance backlog and avoid load shedding.