Expect increase in load shedding over next year, warns energy expert
South Africans should expect an increase in load shedding over the coming months as power utility Eskom embarks on an intensive maintenance programme.
This is according to energy expert and EE Business Intelligence MD Chris Yelland, who says this will result in more units being taken off the grid.
"Increased maintenance in the next year or so is not going to improve load shedding but will actually worsen it.
"It means taking more generators off the grid to do the kind of deep level maintenance that is required. In the short term it means less available power generation, which reduces the energy availability factor, and increases the probability of load shedding," he says.
Yelland says it’s difficult to gauge the accuracy of reports suggesting that South Africans will have to live with load shedding for the next five years.
"I can only go by the official comments that we are hearing plus my own analysis. Certainly Eskom indicates that one can expect load shedding for 18 months to two years.
"If they can improve the availability that will help. The reality is that it's unlikely that the energy availability factor will increase significantly. Perhaps the best that they can hope for is stabilise it from dropping further," he adds.