Eskom board express support for new management

Phakamani Hadebe

Board of Directors of Eskom led by Interim Chairperson Zethembe Khoza have expressed support on the new strategy adopted by executive management in turning around the company’s operational and financial performance.

Mr Khoza noted that Eskom has not implemented load shedding for the past 23 months, and that the plan was to continue implementing appropriate levels of planned maintenance to ensure long-term plant reliability.

The reduction in unplanned outages contributed to improvements of plant availability and the resultant sharp reduction in the usage of open cycle gas turbines (diesel generators).

“In terms of Eskom’s existing Generation Sustainability Strategy, our aim is to achieve 80% plant availability, 10% planned maintenance and 10% unplanned maintenance over the medium-term. The adherence to regular scheduled maintenance is managed through the Tetris planning tool which schedules outages based on forecasted demand and maintenance requirements. A key aspect of this includes having a strict winter and summer maintenance budget that comprises 8.5GW for winter and 11.5GW for summer,” said Khoza.

Mr Khoza also welcomed the continued drive by Eskom’s Interim Group Chief Executive, Johnny Dladla, to meet with all of Eskom’s critical stakeholders, including employees, in an effort to not only share executive management’s vision, but to also understand the needs of these stakeholders. On Monday, Mr Dladla, accompanied by his executive management team, met with the company’s senior and middle management stratum and emphasised Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown’s and the Board’s mandate and expectations.

Similar engagements with other stakeholders are scheduled for the next few weeks.

Company information:
Eskom generates approximately 95% of the electricity used in South Africa and approximately 45% of the electricity used in Africa. Eskom generates, transmits and distributes electricity to industrial, mining, commercial, agricultural and residential customers and redistributors. Additional power stations and major power lines are being built to meet rising electricity demand in South Africa. Eskom will continue to focus on improving and strengthening its core business of electricity generation, transmission, trading and distribution.

Eskom buys electricity from and sells electricity to the countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The future involvement in African markets outside South Africa (that is the SADC countries connected to the South African grid and the rest of Africa) is limited to those projects that have a direct impact on ensuring security of supply for South Africa. ​

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *