Daily Media Assessment - 18 March 2022

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Media Assessment Effective Date February 2021
Review Date February 2024
18 March 2022
1. Print Media = 02 articles
2. Broadcast Media = 06 items
3. Online Media = 15 articles
RATINGS: Positive story Neutral story Negative story Crisis
LONG TERM ISSUES (Capacity, New Build, Funding, Climate Change, Leadership and Business
Strategy)
Issue Description Affected Risk
Business Strategy The media report that President Cyril Ramaphosa, Board/EXCO
who was replying to questions from Members of
Parliament (MPs) during a National Assembly sitting
in the Good Hope Chamber of Parliament yesterday
afternoon, said South Africa will benefit from
emulating the shareholder management structure to
manage its state-owned entities (SOEs). According
to reports, the President said that a shareholding
management model would achieve universality in
the financial management of all SOEs and that the
model would also allow a "good cross-pollination" of
innovative ideas and best practices between the
most viable entities.
The reports note the President as having said that

South Africa will benefit richly from emulating the
model of Singapore and China of a shareholder
management structure to manage its SOEs and
return them to stability and profitability. The plenary
reportedly comes after the State Capture Inquiry
report illustrated the extent of governance and
operational failure at SOEs. The reports further note
that the shareholder management model entails the
establishment of an entity to manage the affairs of
all other SOEs, operating much like an investment
company, and free from political interference.
President Ramaphosa reportedly first floated the
idea of a shareholder management structure to
manage South Africa's most viable SOEs and shield
them from political interference in his State of the
Nation Address in February. The President is quoted
as saying in this regard that: "We are moving
strategic SOEs to fulfil their mandates and economic
and social objectives. A holding company as a
centralised shareholder management model is the
best way to achieve these results.”
It is noted by report that President Ramaphosa said

South Africa is somehow on its way to an era of
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cheaper electricity and renewable energy would

play a part in reducing the cost of electricity in the
near future. He reportedly told MPs that Eskom is
doing everything in its power to resolve the country’s
energy crisis and acknowledged the steep rise in
prices of 400% in the past 15 years. The President
is further noted telling the National Assembly that
the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) that have
already entered the renewable space are one
solution to ensuring alternative power. He is quoted
as saying in this regard that: “No going forward,
obviously we want cheap energy, all of us and the
renewables are going to be able to give us cheap
energy. The initial Bid Windows were very
expensive, the latter ones have become cheaper
and cheaper and cheaper. So, I see the era of
cheaper energy coming.”
The reports note that the President also came to the

defence of Eskom for the recent loadshedding,
saying that the organisation does so out necessity
and the country should have reliable energy in about
2 years.
Capacity and The media reports on the incident, which was Board/EXCO
Business Strategy shared in Eskom's internal newsletter to employees,
(Koeberg Nuclear Shutdown Times, on Tuesday, where Eskom nearly
Power Station lost 920 MW of power to the grid, when an individual
at the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station cut the wrong
valve. According to the reports, Eskom said in the
internal newsletter, which was leaked to the media,
that while carrying out required maintenance on Unit
2, someone cut the valve of Unit 1, instead of the
same valve on Unit 2, and this "significant error"
could have had "devastating consequences."
The reports note that Eskom had to implement a

work stoppage following the incident, which could
have resulted in the loss of the running unit. Eskom
Spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha reportedly
said that Eskom managed to track the error in time,
before any damage was caused, and Koeberg’s Unit
1 has been running for 141 days without any
interruptions.
The reports further note that according to the

newsletter, this is the second time this incident has
happened during this outage and that "[it] speaks to
very poor human performance, and it is an
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unacceptable practise." The reports note Eskom as

saying in the newsletter that Eskom employees are
equipped with the relevant training to correctly
identify the unit and components they need to work
on. Eskom reportedly implored employees to use
situational awareness and be vigilant when working
on the units. Eskom also reportedly acknowledged
that fatigue might set in, "but we cannot afford to
make such serious mistakes which could have
resulted in serious repercussions."
It is noted by the reports that Mantshantsha said in

an emailed response to questions that the
individuals responsible have been interviewed and
have been "cautioned" by Koeberg professionals
and that the incident was not such that warranted
reportage to the regulator.
The reports note that currently, Unit 2 is offline for

maintenance and refuelling. Eskom was reportedly
supposed to replace the steam generators at the
unit during this outage however, due to facilities not
being ready, the organisation decided to delay the
steam generator replacement to the next outage.
The delay in the steam generator replacement
programme will reportedly ensure Unit 2 is back up
and running in time for the high peak demand winter
period and Eskom is in the process of extending
Koeberg's operational life by another 20 years.
SUMMARY OF ARTICLES
Having an entity to manage SOEs is the way to save them, says Ramaphosa
President Cyril Ramaphosa said South Africa will benefit richly from emulating the model of
Singapore and China of a shareholder management structure to manage its state-owned
entities (SOEs) and return them to stability and profitability. Ramaphosa was replying to
questions from Members of Parliament (MPs) during a National Assembly sitting in the Good
Hope Chamber of Parliament on Thursday afternoon. The plenary comes after the State
Capture Inquiry report illustrated the extent of governance and operational failure at SOEs.
The shareholder management model entails the establishment of an entity to manage the
affairs of all other SOEs, operating much like an investment company, and free from political
interference. Ramaphosa first floated the idea of a shareholder management structure to
manage South Africa's most viable SOEs and shield them from political interference in his
State of The Nation Address in February. Inkatha Freedom Party MP Mkhuleko Hlengwa
asked the president what the envisaged restructuring plans of the government were for the
management of SOEs. He also asked Ramaphosa how he hoped to ensure SOEs'
effectiveness, efficiency, viability, and sustainability. Ramaphosa said SOEs were critical
drivers of economic growth and social development, but that the State Capture Inquiry report
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demonstrated the extent of the damage and theft on the institutions. "We are moving strategic
SOEs to fulfill their mandates and economic and social objectives. A holding company as a
centralised shareholder management model is the best way to achieve these results," said
Ramaphosa. Ramaphosa said the Presidential SOE Council is monitoring how to respond to
the SOEs in crisis on a case-by-case basis and has found that a model similar to that of
Singaporean state-owned investment company Temasek would be beneficial to South African
SOEs. Hlengwa charged that the move to establish another SOE to manage failing utilities
was an admission that the Department of Public Enterprises has failed at managing them and
should be abolished in favour of having entities housed in their respective Cabinet
departments of expertise. Ramaphosa said a shareholding management model would achieve
universality in the financial management of all SOEs as well as allow a "good cross-pollination"
of innovative ideas and best practices. "We still own a large share of Telkom. It was listed on
the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and was one of the top-performing companies on the
exchange and pays a dividend to the government every year. China Mobile is listed on the
New York Stock Exchange and can raise great capital for the company, allowing it to rely less
on the fiscus. "Today, we are seeking to take our own SAA, having really run into enormous
problems, bring in a private sector player with money to inject life into SAA. In that way our
enterprises can reach a high level of performance as partners add strength and capability,"
Ramaphosa said. DA leader John Steenhuisen said Ramaphosa's talk of parastatal reform
was hard to take seriously after a week of Stage 4 loadshedding, and SA having to deal with
the problem for 15 years. "The price of electricity has also gone up 450% in the past ten years.
This covers for the poverty cabinet that you continue to defend. How can we justify price
increases for South Africans over accountability for the poverty cabinet?" Steenhuisen asked.
Ramaphosa concurred with Steenhuisen's comments that regulations needed to be improved
to allow for cheap renewables to be brought online.
News24
Eskom’s blunders are costing us money and megawatts

Despite the ever-present threat of loadshedding, Eskom staff recently made a huge mistake
that almost resulted in the loss of the 970 megawatt (MW) Unit 1 at the Koeberg nuclear power
station. The generation capacity is virtually equal to one stage of loadshedding. This
“significant incident” came while Unit 2 at Koeberg is unavailable for power generation after it
was taken offline on January 18 for refueling and maintenance. It is due to return to service in
June. According to an internal Koeberg newsletter “an individual” who was doing maintenance
on Unit 2 cut a valve of Unit 1 instead of Unit 2. “In the light of this, we have had to implement
a work stop following a significant event, which could have resulted in us losing the running
unit,” the newsletter states. Daily Maverick picked this up and published the relevant page on
Thursday. Eskom has confirmed the authenticity of the newsletter. The newsletter further
discloses that this is the second time this has happened. “This speaks to very poor human
performance, and it is an unacceptable practice,” it states. It implies that there is no excuse
for such a mistake: “We are equipped with the relevant training to correctly identify the unit
and component we are tasked to work on,” and cautions staff to read the signage. This near-
miss is the latest in a string of Eskom blunders that are costing money and megawatts. Earlier
this month Eskom was forced to defer the replacement of the steam generators at Koeberg’s
Unit 2 due to its own lack of preparation. The replacement is part of a R20 billion project to
extend the life of Koeberg by another 20 years beyond its current lifespan, which ends in 2024.
The generator replacement was due to take place during the current outage, but it became
clear that Eskom’s poor preparation would result in a time overrun. Eskom announced the
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deferment because such an overrun would increase the risk of loadshedding in winter. The
replacement is now due for late next year, which means an additional five-month outage that
South Africa’s constrained power supply system can hardly afford. In addition, Eskom will
probably be heavily penalised by the French contractors who were on site already and have
dedicated resources for this project for the next couple of months. Eskom has not yet been
able to quantify such penalties. According to Eskom’s data portal, 28% of its generation
capacity has been unavailable due to unplanned breakdowns during March. This is the highest
monthly average in the last two years. The following chart from Eskom shows a breakdown of
monthly generation capacity as at March 17, 2022. This is monthly ratio between available
Eskom plant and all unavailabilities expressed as a percentage, where:
• EAF – Energy Availability Factor (green)
• PCLF – Planned Capability Loss Factor (gold)
• UCLF – Unplanned Capability Loss Factor (red)
• OCLF – Other Capability Loss Factor (black)
A significant portion of these breakdowns also relate to Eskom blunders.
This includes:
• The explosion in 2014 that severely damaged Duvha unit 3. It occurred after Eskom
changed the kind of coal it used following the breakdown of its conveyor belt. The utility
failed to manage this properly, which led to over-pressurisation and ultimately an
explosion. Although insurance paid out R4.2 billion, the unit has not yet been repaired.
• The explosion at Medupi unit 4 late last year after staff failed to follow prescribed protocols.
It has robbed the system of almost 800MW and will cost R2.4 billion to repair. It is expected
to be back in service by 2024.
• Eskom last year disclosed that its Tutuka Power Station in Mpumalanga was in a “shocking
state” and replaced the power station manager. Among other things, the head of
generation disclosed that maintenance work that was signed off was seemingly not really
done. Eskom also discovered that fuel oil to the value of R100 million was stolen every
month. It is not clear how long this had been happening. Eskom has been battling to
restore Tutuka to a level where it performs adequately. During the latest round of Stage 4
loadshedding only two units were running, which means that more than 2 400MW was
unavailable for power generation.
• Eskom’s newly built Medupi and Kusile power stations have been performing poorly due
to design flaws. The utility did its own project management and the projects were years
overdue and billions over budget. Some repairs have been done at Medupi, which has
resulted in improved performance, but Eskom head of generation Phillip Dukashe admits
that they are not running as well as would be expected from new plant.
• Energy expert Chris Yelland points out that Eskom failed to repair dust extraction and dust
handling equipment that broke years ago at its Kendal Power Station. This has resulted in
extensive pollution and Eskom is facing criminal charges in this regard. It is now embarking
on these repairs, which means the units have to be taken offline, robbing the grid of more
than 600MW of generation capacity per unit.
Apart from the loss of generation capacity due to carelessness, the additional cost it incurs as
a result consumes the little money the utility has for plant maintenance. Lower maintenance
levels increase breakdowns, and so the vicious cycle continues. In a recent presentation to
the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) Eskom showed several
scenarios going forward. In the period up to April 2023 its forecast shows if, with unplanned
breakdowns of between 12 000MW and 13 000MW Eskom will have to spend more than R20
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billion on diesel for its open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs). This is about double the amount
spent on its own and private OCGTs in the current financial year – and was calculated in
January, before diesel costs soared on the back of the conflict in Ukraine. Eskom CFO Calib
Cassim however tells Moneyweb that Eskom simply does not have the cash flow to spend so
much on diesel.
Moneyweb, Banoyi, Asset Publishing
Human error at Koeberg nearly led to 'devastating consequences'

Eskom managed to track the error in time before any damage was caused, says
Spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha. Koeberg Unit 1 has been running for 141 days without
any interruptions. Eskom nearly lost 920 MW of power to the grid when an individual at nuclear
power station Koeberg cut the wrong valve. The incident was reported in Eskom's newsletter
to employees, Shutdown Times, on Tuesday. While carrying out required maintenance on Unit
2, someone cut the valve of Unit 1, instead of the same valve on Unit 2, the newsletter read.
This "significant error" could have had "devastating consequences." Eskom had to implement
a work stoppage following the incident, which could have resulted in the loss of the running
unit. Koeberg's "high safety measures" managed to identify the error in time, to prevent any
damage from being caused, according to spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha. According
to the newsletter, this is the second time this incident has happened during this outage. "This
speaks to very poor human performance, and it is an unacceptable practise," the newsletter
read. According to Eskom ,employees are equipped with the relevant training to correctly
identify the unit and components they need to work on. Eskom implored employees to use
situational awareness and be vigilant when working on the units. Eskom acknowledged that
fatigue might set in, "but we cannot afford to make such serious mistakes which could have
resulted in serious repercussions," the newsletter read. Asked whether Eskom is carrying out
disciplinary action against the relevant individuals, Mantshantsha said that the individuals
responsible have been interviewed and have been "cautioned" by Koeberg professionals.
Mantshantsha added that the incident was not such that warranted reportage to the regulator.
Both units at Koeberg have a capacity of 920 MW and are the largest generating units in
Africa. Koeberg Unit 1 has been safely online for 141 days, without any interruptions, said
Mantshantsha. Currently, Unit 2 is offline for maintenance and refuelling. Eskom was
supposed to replace the steam generators at the unit during this outage. However, due to
facilities not being ready, Eskom decided to delay the steam generator replacement to the
next outage. Among these facilities was the construction of a building that was not yet
complete. The building is meant to store the old, radioactive steam generators after their
removal. The delay in the steam generator replacement programme will ensure Unit 2 is back
up and running in time for the high peak demand winter period, Fin24 previously reported.
Eskom is in the process of extending Koeberg's operational life by another 20 years.
Fin24
Technician's basic mistake could have shut down Koeberg's only operating unit
It's emerged that the only remaining operating unit at Koeberg Nuclear Power Station almost
had to be shut down during the last round of loadshedding. A person who appears to be a
technician accidentally cut a valve on Unit 1, instead of the same valve on Unit 2. Unit 2 is the
reactor already shut down for scheduled maintenance. The incident was analysed in a report
published in the internal Koeberg newsletter "Shutdown Times". Earlier this month, Eskom
announced it was delaying some of the life-extending maintenance at Koeberg. What it did
not explain was the cause of repeated delays, writes Sasha Planting in Daily Maverick. "These
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included one contractor walking off-site, and French partner Framatome, which is building the
six steam generators that will replace the old ones, complaining about safety issues on site."
Bruce Whitfield gets reaction from energy analyst Chris Yelland, MD of EE Business
Intelligence: “We only know what we can read in a somewhat obscure publication called the
Shutdown Times. Funnily enough, I did a bit of digging... and found out that this is in fact an
official Eskom publication that is published daily during the shutdown of nuclear reactors at
Koeberg. I'm not sure what cutting a valve means... but instead of cutting the valve on the
generation unit that was shut down, they cut the valve on the generation unit that was still
operating!... And this apparently almost precipitated a shutdown of the operating unit at
Koeberg... and is described in this newsletter as a very serious incident. The "Shutdown
Times" says the error was eventually identified and classified as "significant". "... because it
had the potential to amongst other risks, drain the accumulator of the Safety Injection System
tank 1 RIS 002 BA... It could have had devastating consequences." Koeberg ordered a work
stoppage to contain the situation. It nearly shut down the whole plant because half the plant
is shut down... The other half could have been shut down as a result of this incident which
could have taken 1,800MW in total off the grid at a time when we had loadshedding. To add
to this, it was the second such incident during that particular power outage according to the
newsletter.” What also alarms Yelland is that this piece of information comes out via the media,
instead of Eskom keeping the public informed.
MSN News
Eskom’s Medupi explosion problems — no quick fixes

Eskom’s assessment of the damage to Medupi Unit 4 is still underway, but the power utility
has ruled out the use of equipment from the Kusile power plant for repairs. Instead of using
parts from Kusile to replace those at Medupi, which Eskom said is not financially viable, the
power utility plans to refurbish usable elements of the broken unit. It will pursue other means
to replace components that are beyond repair. “The damage assessment is still in progress in
tandem with preserving the undamaged plant,” an Eskom spokesperson told MyBroadband.
“The use of Kusile’s installed plant and equipment have been ruled out as technically and
economically not viable for Eskom. Eskom is pursuing the replacement or irreparable
components and the refurbishment of usable components,” they added. The state-owned
power utility now plans to accelerate the sourcing of long-lead components. The spokesperson
said an expected return-to-service date for Medupi Unit 4 would be communicated once
damage assessments have concluded. “The plan underway is the acceleration of the
procurement process for long-lead items — in this case, the generator stator — whilst the
balance of damage assessment is in progress,” they said. “Once the damage assessment is
complete, and all contracts for the restoration are concluded, a firm project schedule will
indicate the expected date for Medupi 4 return to service.” The devastating explosion
happened on Sunday, 8 August 2021, after a blunder by the power plant’s staff created a
volatile mixture of hydrogen and oxygen in the Unit 4 generator. The explosion also caused
the neighbouring Unit 5 to trip. After the explosion, Eskom suspended eight senior employees,
including an operating manager, outage manager, two shift managers, and four senior plant
operators. Unit 4 was on a short-term outage since 6 August 2021 when it exploded. Eskom
suspended all work on the unit — and all permits to work on the plant — until further notice.
CEO André de Ruyter said that an investigation into the cause of the explosion was nearing
completion during Eskom’s state of the system briefing in January. He also said that repairs
could cost as much as R2.5 billion. According to Eskom, the incident occurred while
technicians attempted to displace hydrogen with carbon dioxide and air to find an external
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leak. Energy expert Chris Yelland said that Eskom could potentially cut down repair times if a
generator from the Kusile Power Station is used to replace the damaged one at Medupi.
Yelland shared photos of the damage shortly after the incident occurred. “The ends of the
generator have been blown off, the generator is destroyed, and it will have to be replaced.
This is a massive setback,” Yelland said. To compensate for its generation shortfall, Eskom
had to rely on its open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs) to provide emergency generation at times
of high demand. OCGTs are expensive to operate over prolonged periods, as they use diesel
to generate power. This was demonstrated earlier this year when Eskom had to implement
Stage 2 loadshedding and increase it to Stage 4 at short notice. Eskom’s Chief Operating
Officer Jan Oberholzer explained that several breakdowns had resulted in the power utility
burning 9 million litres of diesel a day to keep up with peak demand. Extensive use of its diesel
reserves resulted in Eskom implementing the rotational power cuts. Rapidly increasing fuel
prices will also impact Eskom’s annual budget.
MyBroadband
Letsemeng to appeal SCA ruling on Eskom debt

The Letsemeng Local Municipality in the Free State will appeal the Supreme Court of Appeal’s
(SCA’s) decision on its over R100 million debt to Eskom. The municipality, home to Jacobsdal,
Koffiefontein, Luckhoff, Oppermansgronde and Petrusburg, has in a statement stated its legal
team will present the outcomes of the case and their strategy to it before a special council
sitting in due course. No date has been announced for this special sitting as yet. On 9 March
2022, the SCA dealt Letsemeng a blow, chastising it for its, quote “disgraceful”, approach in
dealing with its mammoth Eskom debt and promptly ordering it to settle the outstanding bill.
This account includes a R5 million advance which the Free State Provincial Government
availed to the municipality at the eleventh hour in 2020. At the time, Eskom was threatening
to plunge Letsemeng into the dark should a payment not be made. This amount is now a bone
of contention between the two parties as outlined in the SCA judgment and the Free State
municipality’s media release. Whilst the nation’s power regulator is of the view that Letsemeng
vowed to make the payment in their 2020 agreement with Eskom, the municipality’s Manager,
Tshemedi Mkhwane, says in a statement “that the matter will be taken up with the Free State's
Finance Department”. The Free State High Court Judge, Phillip Loubser, previously ruled that
whilst the power utility could not continue to supply electricity without Letsemeng paying for it,
the municipality had no funds with which to satisfy the debt. This remains the case for most of
the municipalities in the country that owe Eskom collectively more than R44 billion. Last week
Eskom implemented Stage 4 loadshedding, total breakdowns took 15 439WM of generating
capacity offline while another 5 505MW was down due to planned maintenance. The power
outages were suspended on Monday.
OFM News
Clarity needed on supply, energy plan

Local industry stakeholders need clarity on how the decision by multinational companies Shell
and BP’s South African Petroleum Refineries (Sapref) to freeze spending and pause refinery
operations at the end of this month will impact on security of supply of petroleum-based
products, and the local energy sector, says local petroleum and petrochemical products
manufacturer African Oil Blending Corporation (AOBC) CEO Dr Franck Naidoo. He also adds
that the South African government’s geopolitical stance and existing bilateral agreements in
the oil sector are critical in determining how the country’s local energy sector will develop in
the years to come. “If we want energy security, local refineries are crucial. While we could look
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at imports to secure supply of petroleum products, we cannot build an economy while being
energy dependent. We need to look at the remaining local refineries and decide what energy
policy will be needed going forward, as there is little policy framework certainty as the last
White Paper that local government published on energy was released in 1986.” Naidoo
highlights that Shell was legally prevented from conducting seismic activity on the Wild Coast,
in the Eastern Cape, and shale gas drilling exploration in the Karoo, in the Western Cape. This
might have influenced the decision by Sapref to suspend refinery activities, he adds. “As Shell
was not able to conduct these activities, the company will look to invest elsewhere. Recovering
these investments takes significant projects, such as drilling and other upstream projects, to
support the downstream industry. Additionally, the fact that local refineries have been ageing
cannot be ignored, as maintenance of refineries, such as Sapref’s, is costly.” Naidoo stresses
that Sapref’s refinery is the largest local refinery, and the only one that has been working
optimally for the past 18 months. Therefore, suspending activities at the refinery could result
in a loss of 30% in revenue for the local petrochemicals sector, in addition to other challenges,
such as rising petrol prices, raw material shortages in industrial sectors and currency
fluctuations, he adds. The need to ensure security of supply of petroleum products could
prompt South Africa to secure supply from other countries such as Iran and Russia, Naidoo
argues. Although Russia is a Brics trading partner of South Africa, he adds that securing
supply from that country could become more challenging amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
earlier this month. “South Africa can also look at other refineries in Europe for supply, with
petroleum products refined according to advanced European standards. We need to consider
imports, ensure there’s security of supply and try to reduce petrol prices. The industry is,
however, going to have to work with government to adjust certain tariffs and rebates.” Further,
he highlights the need to find alternative local investors that understand the dynamics of the
South African economy and are willing to invest for the long term to take advantage of the
petroleum refining capacity and skills that Sapref has acquired in terms of its infrastructure
and employees. “There’s no reason why we can’t look at having a locally owned refinery. This
is a strategic decision, and if local supplier the Central Energy Fund is looking to purchase
Sapref’s refinery, it needs to look at financing it with local investors and use the already trained
labour and knowledge to upskill the younger generation.” Last year, AOBC upgraded its
Harrismith lubricant blending production facilities, in the Free State, after securing about R130-
million to repurpose and upgrade the plant. This was done to pivot to the manufacturing of
water-based products for the automotive and industrial sectors locally and in sub- Saharan
Africa. The repurposed plant began manufacturing coolants in the first quarter of this year.
Naidoo emphasises that this upgrade also helped the company to secure a contract with Shell
to manufacture and supply up to six car care products which are part of the Global Shell Car
Care Portfolio. “The business has been doing well from this supply contract, as our cash flow
has improved despite pressures from Covid-19. Shell has asked us to start supplying another
15 products, which are more water-based and water-less car care products. This
demonstrates the capacity that black small, medium-sized and microenterprises – thorough
government’s financial empowerment schemes – can successfully service stable offtake
contracts from companies like Shell.” AOBC has also secured a supply contract, worth R12-
million a year, with State-owned power utility Eskom this year, and is working on securing two
other supply contracts. Further, oil and gas companies are aiming to reduce dependence on
products derived from fossil fuels. Owing to this, many companies are driving the development
of water-based coolant compounds, which will help AOBC and its customers pursue more
sustainable solutions. “We’re following the sustainable just energy transition insofar as there
is a template showing what companies should be doing, and we’re going to be enforcing that
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with our customers, thus also helping us to service oil and gas companies. While we do need
oil and gas products, companies need to lower their environmental footprint in the
manufacturing of these products, so this has a ripple effect on the rest of the economy and
global climate agenda,” he concludes.
Engineering News
Power supply in KwaMsane to be urgently addressed

Umkhanyakude District Municipality has prioritised rectifying the irregular supply of electricity
to the KwaMsane township in Mtubatuba. Speaking at an Integrated Development Plan (IDP)
engagement at KwaMshaya in Mtubatuba last Thursday, Mayor Siphile Mdaka said the
municipality is aware the supply is problematic and would be resolved. However, he pointed
out that the municipality was faced with the challenge of collecting money owed by the
township's users. Mdaka said another issue was that many of the electricity meters in the
township's households needed to be replaced - but once this is done, residents must pay for
electricity use. The municipality's communications head, Mdu Dlamini told the Zululand
Observer illegal connections were another challenge. 'Most people are connected illegally in
the township, which is dangerous, but the manager at the electricity department will quantify
how much the municipality has lost due to illegal connections,' Dlamini said. According to
Dlamini, within two months the municipality would provide a report back to communities on
the work that has been done 'to solve all existing problems' and outline its plans. Residents
would then be briefed on short-term interventions related to service delivery issues. Municipal
head of electricity maintenance Vela Khumalo said the electrical spark at a power line near
the township's sporting complex had been repaired. However, this fault did not impact
electricity supply. Khumalo said another difficulty was that the Eskom network supplying the
township is overloaded - a matter which he said is known to the power utility. At the time of
going to press, Eskom had not responded to a media inquiry.
Zululandd Observer
Salary hike demands across sectors hit SA

A proverbial winter of discontent is looming as wage negotiations begin in various sectors
where workers are demanding high increases while employers are pleading poverty.
Disagreements over salary increases have already resulted in a strike in the gold sector where
the strike by members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has entered a second
week. NUM members are demanding a R1,000 salary increase for the surface and
underground workers each year for three years. They also want 6% for the artisans, miners
and officials who receive pay. The employer has proposed an increase of R700 a year for
three years and 5% for the another category of workers. NUM spokesperson Livhuwani
Mammburu told Sowetan that wage negotiations in the platinum sector are expected to
resume next month. The union is already engaged in an arbitration process at Eskom after
the parastatal indicated it would implement a 1.5% wage increase in July without an
agreement -with the unions. Unions say they have been forced to make double-digit wage
increase demands in some sectors as workers are taking strain from the rising cost of living.
Dr Sanele Gumede, senior economics lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said unions
are expected to adopt a hardline stance during negotiations as workers are under pressure
from every front. ''Food prices have risen significantly. When Covid-19 started we saw a lot of
short-time pay cuts and layoffs. Every worker now is worse off than they were before Covid-
19. It is only a matter of time before this hard stance by unions is seen in every sector," he
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said. Gumede added that higher wage demands in key sectors of the economy could hamper
government's growth and job creation efforts.
Sowetan
LETTERS, OPINIONS AND EDITORIALS
Is the National Nuclear Regulator doing its job?

A statement issued by DA Shadow Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Kevin Mileham
MP reads: “Reports today that a “work stop” was implemented at Koeberg following a
“significant incident” which could have resulted in the loss of the operating unit, the Democratic
Alliance questions the oversight and compliance monitoring role of the National Nuclear
Regulator. Work stops at a major plant such as Koeberg have a profound impact on the ability
of Eskom to meet electricity demand of the country and the mitigation of loadshedding.
Eskom’s own internal communications note that “While carrying out the required maintenance
on Unit 2, an individual cut the valve of the Nuclear Sampling System’s 1 REN 168 VB on Unit
1, instead of the same valve on Unit 2. This was eventually identified and classified as a
significant error because it had the potential to amongst other risks, drain the accumulator of
the Safety Injection System tank 1 RIS 002 BA.” Of further concern is that the same document
notes that this is the second time that this has occurred during the same shutdown, and that
this has “potentially devastating consequences”. Not too long ago, the Eskom COO raised
concern about the departure of skilled workers and experienced members of staff at Koeberg.
This then raises the question of whether the latest incident has been a consequence of skills
scarcity at the plant or just plain negligence? Recently, the planned replacement of the Steam
Generators on Unit 2, which were to be undertaken during the planned refueling shutdown,
was delayed until 2023 (requiring a further 155-day shutdown of that unit next year) because
the necessary radiation containment structure was not in place to manage the
decontamination process of the old generators. This occurred despite the entity having
planned the maintenance work for over 3 years prior. These issues raise serious concerns
over the impartiality, competence and performance of the National Nuclear Regulator, who
now appear to be little more than “yes-men” to the nuclear sector in general and ESKOM in
particular. In January, Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe,
suspended and later removed Peter Becker, the civil society representative on the NNR Board
required by s8(4)(iii) of the National Nuclear Regulator Act. In reply to a parliamentary
question, Mantashe notes that Becker was discharged for “serious misconduct”, although at
no point has he provided any details of what such misconduct entailed. Becker was a vocal
critic of the processes and controls at Koeberg, and it now appears that his concerns are well-
founded. It is worth noting that at a Nuclear Technology Imbizo held in Cape Town yesterday,
Eskom’s Chief Nuclear Officer, Riedewaan Bakardien, noted that “The Koeberg Life Extension
project is progressing well, in accordance with the schedule…” This is factually untrue, as
indicated above. The DA therefore calls for a comprehensive review and update of the
National Nuclear Regulator Act, to provide for greater independence and autonomy. The
recommendations of the International Atomic Energy Agency need to be implemented as a
matter of urgency. Currently the NNR is managed by a Board of Directors appointed by and
serving at the whim of the Minister of Energy. This has been identified as a significant risk by
the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review (INIR), as
far back as 2011, and repeated regularly since then: “The minister of energy and the National
Nuclear Regulator are identified … as having regulatory functions over nuclear activities.
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Considering that the minister of energy is also in charge of the promotion of nuclear energy
and given that the minister appoints the NNR board and CEO, approves NNR’s budget and
promulgates regulations, the INIR team is of the view that the separation between the
regulatory functions and the promotional activities is not adequate, thus calling into question
the effective independence of the NNR.” As our only nuclear power plant, Koeberg needs to
be managed competently and with a view to ensuring the absolute safety of workers and the
surrounding communities. The NNR and the Minister must be held accountable for this
shameful abrogation of their responsibilities.”
Polity
Koeberg’s disgrace
Writer, engineer and a classical liberal, Andrew Kenny writes: “Koeberg has disgraced itself.
It has just shown almost unbelievable incompetence, as if its senior management does not
know what it is doing. I must emphasise that this blunder presents no danger at all either to
Koeberg workers or to the local public. This is not a safety matter, but it is an operational
matter, and it hurts all the more since Koeberg up to now has had a good operational record.
It is the best power station in South Africa and, where the coal stations have been failing all
the time, resulting in blackout after blackout (sorry! loadshedding after loadshedding), Koeberg
has been quietly producing large amounts of cheap, clean, reliable electricity. It still promises
to do so but it has stumbled badly. Koeberg has two units of 920 MW each. On 18 January
2022, Unit 2 went down for maintenance and refueling (which takes place every 18 months),
and also a big modification: the replacement of its three steam generators (SGs) with new
ones. The replacement was decided upon in 2010. Koeberg had twelve years to prepare for
this routine modification, which has been done on many similar nuclear reactors around the
world. When the French contractor, Framatome, arrived on site, they found that Koeberg had
not made one of the most obvious preparations. Framatome was horrified. So the replacement
has been postponed until the next outage. The hapless Jan Oberholzer, Eskom’s Chief
Operating Officer, blushing with shame, appeared in a press conference to explain that the
SG replacement had been postponed so that Unit 2 could come back online before the winter
peak demand. Oh, please! They knew long beforehand about the winter peak and should have
timed the SG replacement to finish before it. Koeberg uses pressured water reactors (PWRs),
by far the most popular reactors around the world, with a superb safety record. The reactor
itself does not make steam; it only makes hot water under pressure. The hot water goes to
three heat exchangers, (SGs). Each SG is 21 metres high and has two flows. In one flow, hot
water from the reactor goes in, loses heat, and goes out as somewhat cooler hot water. In the
other flow, cold water goes in from the feed pumps, picks up heat, turns to steam, and goes
out to the turbines that drive the generators to make electricity. The reactor and SGs are in a
massively strong containment building. Koeberg’s containment buildings look rather like round
blocks of flats without windows. Koeberg, whose construction began in 1976, is a bog-
standard Generation 2 PWR. It was built by the French, who then had probably the world’s
most successful nuclear programme (they have lost their way recently). It was simple, reliable,
successful and safe. Modifications over the years have made it even safer. The Achilles heel
in that generation of PWRs was the SGs. They suffered corrosion where the tubes meet the
tube sheets. Materials engineers then designed new SGs with different steels and this solved
the problems. Around the world the old SGs were cut out and replaced with new ones. It was
rather like a hip replacement: a major operation but a routine one, and very successful.
Interestingly enough, Koeberg’s SGs were probably the best-performing in the world; they
suffered very little corrosion and remained in good condition. This was probably because of
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Koeberg’s excellent water purification plant and the decision to run the reactor at 10 deg C
below maximum temperature to prolong its life. However, in 2010, Eskom decided to replace
them, simply as good practice and to be in step with the rest of the world. Then the blunders,
and worse, began. Eskom went out to tender for the SG replacements. The contract was worth
about R4 billion. Two companies tendered: Areva of France and Westinghouse of Japan-
America. All the Eskom technical and commercial experts recommended Westinghouse,
which seemed a certainty to win the award. But at the last moment, in April 2011, the Minister
of Public Enterprises, Malusi Gigaba, vetoed Eskom’s recommendation on the most
improbable of grounds. They had to go out on tender again, and things got even worse, with
a stench of corruption in the air (although it was never discovered who was corrupting whom).
Again the award went to Areva on even more suspicious grounds. Westinghouse went to court
against the award and a series of most disturbing court judgements followed. Finally, Areva
got the contract and handed it over to Framatome, its nuclear engineering arm, who proceeded
to make an almighty mess of manufacturing the SGs. Finally, eventually, they did manage to
have made six good SG’s which they delivered to Koeberg in September 2020. This is how
you replace SGs and remove the old ones to a place of final disposal. A special team with
special grinding and welding machines comes onto site. The unit is shut down and the plant
prepared. Each SG has four pipes which must be cut out. The old SGs are then removed to a
special building for cleaning and sealing. The new SGs are moved into position, welding
preparations are made, and the SGs are welded in with robot welders. The old SGs contain
radioactive debris from the primary water of the reactor (they receive far too low radiation to
cause nuclear reactions in their own materials). In the special room, the old SGs are washed
out carefully to remove as much as possible of the radioactive debris, which is then separated
and concentrated and put into suitable containers for final disposal. The SGs are sealed up,
perhaps painted and covered. Eventually they would be taken to Vaalputs, the nuclear waste
disposal site in the Northern Cape for final disposal. Vaalputs is perfectly suited for this; it is
in remote desert, very stable geologically, arid, unpopulated with very low commercial value.
When the contractors, Framatome, arrived on site to do the replacement, they asked Koeberg
where they had built the special building for receiving the old SGs. They gaped when Koeberg
told them they had not built one. Koeberg had had twelve years to do so! The Koeberg staff
blustered something along the lines that, ‘We’ll build one now’. Framatome said something, or
at any rate thought something, along the lines of, ‘You must be joking!’ After various confused
meetings the replacement was cancelled, and Oberholzer had to appear red-faced before the
public. This special building is not a ‘containment building’, as some over-excited ‘energy
expert’ described it. It is a simple shed, probably sealed from outside air and under a slight
vacuum. It is just a place where the SGs can be cleaned and tidied up. That’s all. But Koeberg
could not manage even that. Heads must roll. The power station manager, whoever he or she
is, must be fired. It is just by very good luck that Koeberg’s SGs are still in good shape and
can indeed run safely until the next outage. But the incompetence of the Koeberg staff over
this cannot be ignored. There must be changes. It gets worse. Unit 2 was shut down on 22
January; Eskom now says that, without changing the SGs, it will return to service in June. Five
months for a routine refueling outage! In the USA the average such outage takes 32 days. I
am told that housekeeping at Koeberg is not what it should be and that any procurement gets
bogged down with endless dithering, bureaucracy and indecision. Nuclear has advantages
over coal in resisting the corruption, incompetence and racial engineering with which the ANC
has wrecked the rest of Eskom. Nuclear reactor designs are standardised, so Eskom could
not use a crazy new design as it did at Medupi. Strict international nuclear regulation limits the
naughty stuff that goes on at the coal stations. Nuclear operators have to pass very strict,
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regular exams on a nuclear simulator (similar to those for airline pilots) so that rules out
appointment on skin colour or political connections alone. But unfortunately, BEE procurement
and Employment Equity does affect nuclear too. This was made worse at Koeberg, when it
was decided on high that the racial proportions at Koeberg should try to be the same as those
in South Africa at large, where ‘coloureds’ are 9% of the population, rather than the Western
Cape, where they are 54%. Last year Oberholzer said in public he was ‘absolutely horrified’
at the number of highly skilled and experienced technicians and engineers who were leaving
Koeberg. There is a worldwide demand for Koeberg’s nuclear experts, who can earn more
money abroad, but many of them are leaving without new jobs to go to. Why are they so
desperate to get out? Could one of the reasons be that whites and coloureds are made to feel
not wanted? Right now Koeberg still has more skills and experience than it had in 1984, when
the first unit started up, but it is a worry. Does Eskom care? Probably not, as long as their
senior managers receive their bonuses for meeting their equity targets.”
Daily Friend
Overexposed
The editorial reads: “The most recent bout of loadshedding not only reconfirmed South Africa’s
debilitating overexposure to coal, but also this country’s growing vulnerability to diesel price
spikes and supply squeezes. As usual, the poor performance of the Eskom coal fleet lay at
the heart of the problem. At times, the fleet’s energy availability factor (EAF) slumped to below
60%, a threshold breach that once seemed inconceivable and one that policymakers continue
to pretend can be miraculously repaired. Hopefully, the attention currently being given to
maintenance planning and implementation will help stabilise the EAF at levels better than
60%. However, it is unlikely to recover to the 70%-type levels baked into the Integrated
Resource Plan and will never again reach the 90% levels of Eskom’s surplus years. If it does,
it will be because most of the worst performing units have been closed. Policymakers need to
get real about this factor, because unrealistic recovery assumptions are not only distorting the
new-build picture but forcing Eskom managers and employees to expend unbelievable
amounts of time, effort and resources on some causes that are arguably already lost. Then,
because of South Africa’s failure to build new (mostly renewables) capacity at a pace
commensurate with the gap being created by a coal fleet that is basically decommissioning
itself, Eskom’s only immediate system stabilisers are the diesel-fuelled open-cycle gas
turbines (OCGTs). Twenty of these units, most of them Eskom owned, were built relatively
quickly after South Africa’s electricity crisis first became visible in the late noughties. They
were designed primarily to get the country through, albeit expensively, the morning and
evening peaks. At times this month, all 20 units have been operating at full throttle and well
beyond peak hours, which meant that about nine-million litres of diesel were being burnt daily
at huge expense. For the year to March 31, Eskom will have spent about R6-billion directly on
diesel and R3-billion indirectly through its purchase of electricity from the private Avon and
Dedisa OCGT plants. A similar level of expenditure has been assumed for the 2022/23
financial year, but that assumption has not yet factored in the price spike associated with
Russia’s deadly invasion of Ukraine, let alone a possible supply squeeze. Given Eskom’s
financial predicament and the fact that the Energy Regulator has not approved anything like
R6-billion a year for diesel, a point is sure to come when the utility is not in a position to use
diesel to avoid loadshedding or reduce its intensity. There are limited options in the near term
to ditch this overreliance on coal and remove the geopolitical risk posed by diesel other than
to find a way to stabilise the performance of the coal fleet. However, the opportunity for a long-
term reset towards environmental sustainability and energy independence is within grasp.
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Seizing it requires the political will to support a future premised on renewables, storage,
including green hydrogen, and energy efficiency. Once in place, policy, finance and investment
will follow.”
Engineering News, Polity
Key Ingredient
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor, Schalk Burger writes: “Energy efficiency is an important
component in reaching net-zero greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions, lifting people out of
energy poverty and enabling development, but requires public and private investment to
secure these benefits, as well as growing development and use of renewable energy sources,
speakers said during the African Energy Indaba 'Role of Energy Efficiency in Achieving Net
Zero' panel discussion on March 2. Renewable energy engineering, procurement and
construction company Turnkey Solar Solutions CEO Maurits Perold said various case studies,
and the company's own experiences in implementing projects, showed that phased energy
efficiency initiatives contributed to offsetting 7% to 10% of total energy costs. "The best
business case for commercial and industrial organisations typically starts with energy
efficiency on one side and the introduction of own-generated power on the other side. When
these companies try to leverage as much of their own generation for their baseload energy
requirements as possible, that is where they can then determine how best to strive for net zero
and secure the greatest commercial benefits. Different sectors and industries need different
mixes and types of incentives aligned with the operating environment within these sectors,
and incentives and policies must be tailor-made for each sector to best support energy
efficiency and reduce emissions," he advises. The European Union had an ambitious goal of
decreasing GHG emissions by 55% by 2030, and energy efficiency was considered a
precondition for such a large decarbonisation drive because, without energy efficiency, every
action was more costly and, therefore, for every country and person to benefit, substantial
actions in terms of energy efficiency was necessary, said European Commission energy
directorate-general energy efficiency unit head Claudia Canevari. Business advisory and
consultancy EY Cova partner Tumelo Chipfupa added that energy efficiency was typically the
cheapest way to reduce GHG emissions, with the additional benefit of avoiding surplus capital
investment in new generation capacity. "Energy efficiency reduces the cost of production and
improves the competitiveness of companies, [and also improves] the financial standing of
households." However, Perold highlighted that large companies, even after introducing energy
efficiency into their organisations, still only achieved a small percentage of low- or zero-carbon
offset of the total energy needs for the production capacity of their facilities, and energy
efficiency was most effective when used alongside renewable energy. Southern African
Development Community Centre for Renewable Energy energy efficiency expert Mzwandile
Thwala noted that energy efficiency, especially in the context of Southern Africa, was a viable
option to contribute to net-zero goals, but only to a limited extent. "Countries, sectors,
industries, companies and consumers understand what role energy efficiency plays in
reducing energy demand before they can leverage it as a concept to contribute to net-zero
goals. They have to understand what the value is for them to participate in energy efficiency
initiatives," he said. Therefore, each sector requires different incentive packages and policy
frameworks that fit their needs and circumstances to achieve the goal of furthering net zero,
he stated. Countries need to set up appropriate regulations and standardisation, measurement
and verification policies, strategies and legal frameworks, as well as compliance programmes,
to achieve the multiple goals of energy efficiency initiatives. "Linked to this, there is also a
need to attract and create an enabling environment for private sector investment in renewable
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energy and energy efficiency projects," Thwala added. After the start of the energy crisis and
loadshedding in South Africa in 2007 and 2008, many companies introduced energy efficiency
solutions, but, once they had done this and achieved a given amount of energy saving, the
only option left to reduce their electricity costs and associated emissions was to invest in
renewable energy, said Perold. "However, after the start of the power crisis, [State-owned
power utility] Eskom introduced the first rebates for renewable energy projects, and many
companies used this grant as a catalyst. This was followed by the Department of Trade and
Industry Manufacturing Competitiveness Enhancement Programme, as well as South African
Revenue Service incentives in the forms of Tax Act sections 12L and 12B tax and accelerate
asset depreciation allowances. "These multiple incentives can be, and have been, grouped
together to make energy efficiency and renewable energy projects more lucrative, with up to
28% of the value of the projects that can be offset through their use. This is a significant driver
of such investments," he said. Further, the average return on investment horizon for renewable
energy projects had tracked lower since 2008, from seven years to three years, owing to the
lower levelised costs of the projects and the increases in Eskom tariffs. These served as
significant drivers and were the type of incentives required to support broad uptake, said
Perold. Europe, Africa and the world needed to grow and continue to develop while using less
energy. It is important for policies and awareness campaigns to ensure that energy efficiency
is not perceived as a constraining factor that limits the capacity of consumers, whether
households, commercial or industrial organisations, to continue with their activities, noted
Canevari. "It is also important to understand the links between energy efficiency and
renewable energy, as they go hand in hand. We need to use less energy to perform the same
functions, and increasingly energy should be produced by renewable sources. The two
reinforce each other to ensure comparatively lower energy demand and lower price increases
while providing the necessary energy for growth and development," she said. Energy
efficiency was not only a precondition to achieve the decarbonisation of economies, but was
also the most cost-effective way of achieving this. Energy not consumed costs nothing, she
highlighted. "However, the challenge is that, often, energy efficiency requires investment
before benefits are secured and these can present a problem for public and private investors,
as well as a hurdle for industries and consumers. It is essential that policies push for the uptake
of energy efficiency projects, but public financing is insufficient to bring about the desired
changes to drive uptake. Therefore, it is essential that the private financing sector be
encouraged and provided with instruments to finance energy efficiency projects and allow for
their uptake. It is important that there is cooperation between private and public sectors to
ensure energy efficiency delivers cost-effective benefits to society," Canevari averred.
Financing was one of the biggest obstacles to consumers, including households, commercial
companies, building owners and industries to implement energy efficiency, said Chipfupa.
"Lots of companies have limited capital, especially following the impact of the [Covid-19]
pandemic on their balance sheets. However, key to achieving this is to get consumers and
financiers to realise the benefits of energy efficiency, especially in terms of improving their
bottom lines," he noted. Therefore, there needed to be an increase in funding for such projects
from donors, governments, development finance institutions and private financing
organisations, as they required investment before consumers could realise savings and
benefits from energy efficiency, he added. Simultaneously, investment support in the form of
incentives, grants and, increasingly, the ability to reduce carbon taxes all contributed to
lowering the total capital expenditure required to implement energy efficiency and renewable
energy projects, said Perold. "The lower the investment barriers, the more likely industry is to
invest and carry out energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Carbon offset can be
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an additional catalyst to unlock a larger market and drive investment in such projects," he said.
Further, a skills gap remains present in Southern Africa to implement energy efficiency
projects, as well as to develop energy efficient technologies and equipment, stated Thwala.
"For example, building energy management systems have proven successful in many
European countries. It is therefore important to promote adoption through public awareness,
advocacy and the strengthening of regulations to highlight and address this skills component
of energy efficiency. "Southern African countries must develop clear energy efficiency
strategies and targets that show how they intend to achieve the goals set out and, importantly,
clearly define these according to sectoral needs and circumstances," he said.”
Engineering News
Mind-boggling delay in securing emergency electricity

The editorial reads: “The recent round of countrywide loadshedding and the grim warning that
more is likely to occur in the coming winter months was bad news for our bruised economy.
By now, the state was supposed to have signed off on procuring emergency energy to fast-
track an additional 2,000MW for the national grid. However, this deadline has been extended
to the end of March and it seems that only 800MW will have been secured. This is despite the
Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme having been mooted
back in 2019, and intended to come on line later in 2022. A major obstacle has been the
controversy over the tender awarded to Karpowership SA to provide the lion’s share of
1,220MW. The Turkish-owned Karpowership Group operates a fleet of 25 power ships in
Africa and Asia. These vessels have plants that generate electricity from liquefied gas. The
plan is to place eight power ships in Saldanaha Bay in the Western Cape, Richards Bay in
KwaZulu-Natal and Coega, but the scheme has been mired in accusations of corruption as
well as opposition from environmentalists, who say it will pose a serious threat to marine life.
There are also concerns over the cost. That the deal is for as long as 20 years is decidedly
odd and the CSIR says it might cost an eye-watering R218bn. Eskom has delayed signing off
because it wants certainty about the expense involved. Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe is
strongly behind using the power ships and has urged a deal be concluded in haste, but the
department of forestry, fisheries and environment, correctly, has insisted on an environmental
impact assessment process. It is difficult to understand why Mantashe is quite so attached to
Karpowership and coal when much of the rest of the world is looking to environmentally
friendly energy sources, but to build the economy, something certainly needs to be done to
augment the country’s electricity supply. Given the extent of the Eskom crisis, it beggars belief
that it has taken more than two years for the state to finalise an emergency electricity supply.
That this is still not secured is deeply concerning.”
HeraldLive
BROADCAST
Talk Radio 702, CapeTalk, 5FM (Yesterday): It's emerged that the only remaining operating
unit at Koeberg Nuclear Power Station almost had to be shut down during the last round of
loadshedding. A person who appears to be a technician accidentally cut a valve on Unit 1,
instead of the same valve on Unit 2. Unit 2 is the reactor already shut down for scheduled
maintenance. The incident was analysed in a report published in the internal Koeberg
newsletter "Shutdown Times". Earlier this month, Eskom announced it was delaying some of
the life-extending maintenance at Koeberg. What it did not explain was the cause of repeated
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delays, writes Sasha Planting in Daily Maverick. "These included one contractor walking off-
site, and French partner Framatome, which is building the six steam generators that will
replace the old ones, complaining about safety issues on site." Bruce Whitfield gets reaction
from energy analyst Chris Yelland, MD of EE Business Intelligence. “We only know what we
can read in a somewhat obscure publication called the Shutdown Times. Funnily enough, I
did a bit of digging... and found out that this is in fact an official Eskom publication that is
published daily during the shutdown of nuclear reactors at Koeberg. I'm not sure what cutting
a valve means... but instead of cutting the valve on the generation unit that was shut down,
they cut the valve on the generation unit that was still operating!... And this apparently almost
precipitated a shutdown of the operating unit at Koeberg... and is described in this newsletter
as a very serious incident. The "Shutdown Times" says the error was eventually identified and
classified as "significant". "... because it had the potential to amongst other risks, drain the
accumulator of the Safety Injection System tank 1 RIS 002 BA... It could have had devastating
consequences." Koeberg ordered a work stoppage to contain the situation. It nearly shut down
the whole plant because half the plant is shut down... The other half could have been shut
down as a result of this incident which could have taken 1,800MW in total off the grid at a time
when we had loadshedding. To add to this, it was the second such incident during that
particular power outage according to the newsletter.” What also alarms Yelland is that this
piece of information comes out via the media, instead of Eskom keeping the public informed.
94.7 FM (Yesterday): President Cyril Ramaphosa said South Africa is somehow on its way to
an era of cheaper electricity. Taking oral questions in the National Assembly yesterday,
Ramphosa said renewable energy would play a part in reducing the cost of electricity in the
near future. He’s told members of parliament that Eskom is doing everything in its power to
resolve the country’s energy crisis. Ramaphosa has acknowledged the steep rise in prices of
400% in the past 15 years. He has told the National Assembly that the Independent Power
Producers that have already entered the renewable space are one solution to ensuring
alternative power. “No going forward, obviously we want cheap energy, all of us and the
renewables are going to be able to give us cheap energy. The initial Bid Windows were very
expensive, the latter ones have become cheaper and cheaper and cheaper. So I see the era
of cheaper energy coming.” He also came to the defence of Eskom for the recent
loadshedding, saying the company does so out necessity. He said the country should have
reliable energy in about 2 years.
Gagasi FM (Yesterday): Power utility Eskom and Transnet have called for the review of
certain procurement policy. Transnet’s Vula Nemukula and Eskom Executive, Jainthree
Sankar have tabled this issues to the Public Enterprises ministry. The pair agreed that there
should much more urgency in addressing reforms in procurement as this creates a backlog in
the system and hampers service delivery. Adding that these policies to procurement to state-
owned entities have become a major sign to bill administration and corruption in South Africa.
“Our requirements in terms of the technical side, that would help us a lot in ensuring that going
forward we are able to maintain our infrastructure and then the maintenance regime that we
have, is standard across the rest of the organisation,” said Nemukula. “We are exactly in the
same position. We have quite a bit of work that we have to do. For example, our transmission
and other infrastructure projects. And we really want to actually have relationships with
suppliers in the long-term to build our industry and actually be able to develop the economy,”
said Sankar.
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CapeTalk (Yesterday): The City of Cape Town is nearing the production of electricity from
landfill gas, in a project known as "Waste to Energy. Waste to energy is described as the
process of generating electricity from the primary treatment of waste, or the processing of
waste into a fuel source. These waste-to-energy plants burn municipal waste from landfill sites,
producing steam which is then used to make electricity. Cape Town's electricity demand
during summer averages around 1400 megawatts. In winter it averages around 1800
megawatts. According to Kadri Nassiep, executive director of energy at the City of Cape Town,
only a small amount of electricity will be produced at this stage. However, he adds that the
successful implementation of this project is an important milestone in the journey towards
overall sustainability. “It's about two megawatts of power that will be delivered onto the grid,
that will be within the coming months. The biggest challenge has been organic waste and the
non usable plastics in particular, and I think that's where this type of technology plays a role. I
think there's going to be more value in pyrolysis, where you would actually burn the waste. In
that process we can actually get rid of some of the plastics and maybe even produce liquid
fuels from that.” While it only produces a small amount of electricity in relation to the city's
power demands, Nassiep says there a certainly some merits for producing electricity using
these methods. From a perspective of elimination of waste, so there's a strong environmental
driver for this. The carbon value in there, so there is potentially some revenue stream that's
generated which could be used somewhere.
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Page 19 of 19

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RATINGS: Positive story Neutral story Negative story Crisis

The reports note the President as having said that

It is noted by report that President Ramaphosa said

cheaper electricity and renewable energy would

The reports note that the President also came to the

The reports note that Eskom had to implement a

The reports further note that according to the

unacceptable practise." The reports note Eskom as

It is noted by the reports that Mantshantsha said in

The reports note that currently, Unit 2 is offline for

Eskom’s blunders are costing us money and megawatts

Human error at Koeberg nearly led to 'devastating consequences'

Eskom’s Medupi explosion problems — no quick fixes

Letsemeng to appeal SCA ruling on Eskom debt

Clarity needed on supply, energy plan

Power supply in KwaMsane to be urgently addressed

Salary hike demands across sectors hit SA

LETTERS, OPINIONS AND EDITORIALS

Is the National Nuclear Regulator doing its job?

Mind-boggling delay in securing emergency electricity

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