[imagesource: Pixabay]

The words ‘death spiral’ have been used in conjunction with Eskom for a while now, and last year the state-owned enterprise’s CEO, André de Ruyter, even got in on the action.

By February of this year, ‘death spiral’ was being bandied about again, and now, as you are well aware, we’ve had a couple of days of sitting in the dark.

This time, however, we have a new turn of phrase to work with – ‘Code Red’.

I’m trying to decide which one is more ominous.

Per eNCA, energy expert Chris Yelland says Eskom is on ‘Code Red’ for the next six weeks, having just announced that we can expect load shedding to continue until Wednesday due to further breakdowns at several power stations.

“It really is expected, Eskom has been giving the message, loud and clear, they’ll be load-shedding for at least the next two years. Last year we were saved by COVID-19 as the demand for electricity reduced quite considerably at first and then overall through the year by about 5 percent,” he said.

Part of the problem is that newer plants such as Medupi and Kusile aren’t running like ‘new’ plants. They should be operating at around 90%, but are running at closer to 65% or 70%, which is roughly the same as older plants.

More from Yelland via BusinessTech:

“The reality is that maintenance can only take you so far. It’s like an old car – at some point, you have to sell it and replace it with something more reliable.

“You can keep an old car going for ages, provided you only drive it on weekends and drive it so far. But that is not what South Africa needs right now, we need workhorses.”

Eskom released a statement telling us, with the pride and acumen of a toddler with a crayon drawing, that they had “successfully returned generation at the Matimba and Medupi power stations”, following which they had to admit that more power stations were in trouble.

Tutuka, Majuba, Kusile, Matimba, and Duvha power stations are currently not doing well, which added to the issues caused by previous breakdowns at the Kriel and Kendal power stations.

There have also been delays bringing Hendrina and Duvha power stations back into service.

Stock up on candles, because you’re going to need them.

You can watch eNCA’s full interview with Yelland below:

[sources:enca&businesstech]