Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has flagged illegal connections as a major impact on the country’s distribution infrastructure and a hindrance to Eskom’s generation capacity.
Illegal connections cost Eskom billions of rand in revenue with the struggling power utility losing R22 billion from “non-technical issues” last year, R7bn in Gauteng alone.
Ramokgopa said yesterday that illegal connections were placing significant strain on the grid, and needed to be addressed as it affected the energy ecosystem in the country.
“We have made the point that the amount of illegal connections, in addition to posing an immediate physical danger, also plays a significant amount of strain on the distribution infrastructure,” Ramokgopa said.
“The capacity of the distribution infrastructure is a function of the demand, and really when Eskom and municipalities agree on the notifiable maximum demand, it is a function of just knowing the profile of the people or businesses that will draw from that infrastructure.”
Speaking during his weekly media briefing on the Energy Action Plan, Ramokgopa said the theft of electricity permeated even to businesses who were cheating Eskom out of its revenue.
“The problem of illegal connection is not only isolated to household, but there are some industries that are not playing their part, drawing a lot from the grid, making a significant amount of profit, but failing in their duty, their obligation to ensure that they pay municipalities and pay Eskom so that we're able to maintain the health of electricity provision,” he said.
“We do know that there are households and communities that are not in a position to pay. Almost all municipalities have got a dispensation in place that accommodates the poor in the form of an indigent program to ensure that those that are registered on the indigent register, do get an allocation of a particular threshold of electricity for free that is subsidised by the State.”
Meanwhile, Ramokgopa hailed Eskom for lessening the intensity of rotational load shedding in recent weeks, saying this was a major victory and generation capacity would be boosted by the return of additional units later this year.
He said the return of Kusile units 3 and 2 this month and in November, and the addition of unit 5 to the grid for the first time late in December, would add a potential 2 400MW to the system.
“We are not out of the woods because we are experiencing load shedding, even if it’s of lesser intensity. The fact that you can go for a day, whether it’s a weekend or a weekday, without load shedding. It’s psychological. It’s a major victory,” Ramokgopa said.
“The energy availability factor is sustaining close to 60%, and then we will return three Kusile units. There is going to be a significant improvement in the energy situation.”
Ramokgopa said reduced demand coming out of the winter months allowed Eskom to increase its planned maintenance by approximately 2 000MW to 5 381MW, and breakdowns were reduced from 17 300MW in May to 14 100MW last week.
Peak demand has also declined to about 27 000MW, including power generated by Eskom and the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) but not self-generation, compared to an average of 31 000MW in May during winter.
The utility said the reduced demand had allowed it to invest more in the maintenance of its generation units.
Eskom’s Head of Transmission, Prince Moyo, said the low peak demand figure was an accurate picture of the economy’s demand, and could also perhaps signal that more electricity consumers were investing in self-generation.
"The 27 000MW is peak demand, this is what the system sees, and if there is self-generation behind this, then real demand would be higher,” Moyo said.
“But from what we know, there is not a lot of self-generation during peak because most self-generation is not available at peak. So, that is what the country demand is.”
BUSINESS REPORT