Question NW1899 to the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy
26 May 2023 - NW1899
Maotwe, Ms OMC to ask the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy
What (a) is the current energy availability factor at Eskom and (b) measures has his department put in place to increase the energy availability factor to beyond 73% as presented by Eskom to avoid a total collapse of the grid that is predicted?
Reply:
Energy Availability Factor is currently around 50%. This is a dynamic number highly dependent on operations. Department of Public Enterprises who oversees Eskom operations could provide you with updates regularly on EAF and their respective plans to increase plant availability upon request. In line with the 2019 IRP, we are continuing with procurement of additional MW to augment energy generation capacity pursuant to security of supply.