JOHANNESBURG – As Eskom works on keeping the lights on, it says there has been some improvement in the generating performance of its plants.
Eskom hasn’t implemented load shedding since last week Thursday after the country experienced five straight days of power cuts with the escalation of stage 4 load shedding.
The utility says that cutting its maintenance expenditure has had a major impact on the performance of its plants.
Eskom has been battling with aging infrastructure, which needs major maintenance to perform efficiently.
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The power utility says that money was prioritized to focus more on the construction of Kusile and Medupi power stations.
Eskom’s Andrew Etzinger says this was a major mistake.
“Maintenance expenditure was cut back over the last two years and there’s been an impact on our performance. Bear in mind our five stations are now 38-years-old and in need of additional care and attention.”
Eskom has admitted that it reduced its expenditure on maintenance by at least 50% over the past five years due to financial constraints. The power utility now has a debt of more than R420 billion.
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