Question NW4302 to the Minister of Public Enterprises
02 December 2022 - NW4302
Cachalia, Mr G K to ask the Minister of Public Enterprises
What are the relevant details of the much-needed repairs and maintenance to its existing fleet that Eskom will (a) make in the short term and (b) not be able to make due to financial constraints to secure a stable baseload generation?
Reply:
According to Information Received from Eskom:
a) Generation’s power plant units are required to undergo maintenance outages periodically to prevent future failures, address load losses, meet statutory requirements, and fix broken equipment.
The table below summarises the projected outages over the next five years in accordance with the capacity plan published in October 2022 and the plant maintenance philosophies of the stations.
|
FY of outage start and type of outage (count) |
|||||
|
Type of outage |
FY23 |
FY24 |
FY25 |
FY26 |
FY27 |
|
General Overhaul (GO) |
15 |
12 |
12 |
6 |
13 |
|
Minor Overhaul (MO) |
18 |
14 |
12 |
7 |
5 |
|
Interim Repairs (IR) |
16 |
14 |
15 |
18 |
13 |
|
Inspections (IN) |
16 |
11 |
20 |
9 |
12 |
|
TOTAL |
65 |
51 |
59 |
40 |
43 |
b) The required outage budget for the next five years, FY2023 to FY2024, was R46 713 billion, compared to an affordability cap of R41, 800 billion (what Eskom could afford), resulting in an R4,913 billion financial constraint. Since then, the Chief Financial Officer has raised the affordability level to R44, 700 billion, reducing the gap to R2, 013 billion.
Eskom is working hard to stay within this restriction; but there are risks presented by this funding plan that may result in plant reliability challenges if all maintenance scopes are not completed. In addition, it does not allow for any scope variations in case of additional maintenance requirements discovered during outages.
Remarks: Approved / Not Approved
Jacky Molisane Pravin Gordhan, MP
Acting Director-General Minister
Date: Date: