Ramokgopa vows ‘no load shedding’ winter – bets big on nukes to power SA’s future

Kgosientsho Ramokgopa

Cape Town – Electricity Minister, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, is optimistic that Eskom’s power plants will perform similarly to last winter, despite concerns raised by experts and Parliament about potential load shedding this winter.

On April 25, Eskom presented its five-year corporate plan and budget, just a day after implementing stage 2 load shedding due to high demand, unit losses, and extensive maintenance.

According to BusinessTech, experts like Chris Yelland and Anton Eberhard expressed concerns about Eskom’s energy availability factor (EAF), which was lower than expected, potentially leading to more load shedding.

Ramokgopa, however, remained confident, citing ongoing work by Eskom and the addition of new generation capacity, such as Kusile Unit 6 and Medupi Unit 4, which are expected to boost capacity by 2,500 MW.

“When we went into winter last year, we didn’t have Kusile Unit 6, so we didn’t have that 800MW. The second one is that we didn’t have Medupi 4. We will have Medupi 4 by the end of May, which has been out for about four years, so it’s another 800MW. And then we are going to have the benefits of both Koeberg units. We are anticipating that Koeberg unit number 1 is going to come back around in July or so,” EWN quoted the minister as saying at the G20 Energy Transitions working group meeting in Cape Town

Ramokgopa also said that expanding South Africa’s nuclear energy programme was key to achieving energy security and economic growth.

He emphasised the importance of including nuclear power in the country’s energy mix, SABC News reported.

“The expansion of the nuclear programme gives SA energy security and sovereignty that enables country to move its economy into digital era and engaging new research frontiers and take its rightful place among leading nations,” he said.

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