LISTEN: Eskom spent R70m on diesel in 7 hours
Eskom has revealed it spent R10 million per hour to keep the lights on by burning diesel in its open-cycle gas turbines.
The power utility has confirmed it spent R47.4 billion on diesel from 2009 to 2019.
"We have 20 open cycle gas turbines that it operates, if using those at full capacity all at once the cost will be R10 million per hour. We use them depending on the situation and how many megawatts we need," said spokesperson, Sikonathi Mantshantsha
He said on Tuesday night during load shedding from 10 pm to 5 am they used 14 of the gas turbines and this costs R70 million.
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"Eskom has been using open cycle gas turbines for more than 10 years since we have had this problem of shortage of capacity. This burns a significant hole in the finances because it costs a lot of money. Eskom has already told investors and the public that we are expecting to report a loss of about R22 billion in the year ending March 2021," added Mantshantsha
