- Minister in the Presidency responsible for Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, announced on Friday that technical experts supported by the Resource Mobilisation Fund (RMF) will be stationed at various power stations across the country from Monday, 5 June 2023.
He said the team will go around the four power stations where the Energy Availability Factor (EAF) is low.These, according to the Minister, include Matla, Kriel, Majuba, and Kendal power stations. In addition, support will be given to open-cycle gas turbines, which poses a challenge when it comes to logistics and storage and is confident that the experts will provide solutions.
The RMF, which was launched in March this year, already raised R100 million from businesses and philanthropies. The funds will be used to provide technical support and capacity to the National Energy Crisis Committee (NECOM) and employ the best minds in the game to end load shedding.
These experts, according to the Minister, include former Eskom employees, while others are industry experts.He said the professionals, who come highly recommended, will be allocated according to their specialities.On the demand management support, he said he was confident that the programme will be oversubscribed.
“Remember, we did say that there’s huge potential that can be derived on the demand side essentially, clawing back the megawatts on the demand side without necessarily interrupting households’ ability to get their daily requirements. But how smart we engage about how we engage with energy solutions.”
He said he was happy to indicate that Eskom has agreed to waive the requirement for security deposits to enable the wheeling of electricity to municipalities in good standing.
“So we think that this will significantly improve a generation because this was one major stumbling block.”
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
Source: SAnews.gov.za
