As Eskom exited one of its most intensive periods of load-shedding on Friday November 12, CEO Andre de Ruyter promised greater transparency in future on both the state and performance of the power system given the likelihood that the risk of disruption will persist for the coming three to four years.

The State-owned utility suspended its latest bout of load-shedding – initially implemented at Stage 2 on November 5, but then swiftly escalated to Stage 4 before being trimmed back to Stage 2 almost a week later – early on Friday morning.

Eskom also offered a favourable prognosis for the weekend and the coming week, owing to the return to service of several coal units and a reduction in unplanned partial and full load losses to about 11 200 MW.

At points over the past two weeks total breakdowns stood at above 17 900 MW.

That said, the utility was still burning about 17 000 litres a minute of diesel on Friday morning as it operated its open-cycle gas turbines at the Ankerlig power station in Cape Town well beyond their intended operating profile to ensure supply stability. In addition, it was buying electricity from two units at the private Avon facility, north of Durban, which also produces electricity using diesel.

Asked what lessons had been drawn from the period, during which the Eskom CEO had also been forced to stare down calls for his resignation and even threats to his personal safety, De Ruyter said the value of being “as open and transparent as possible” had been reinforced.

Eskom instituted daily briefings about halfway through the latest crisis; briefings that were suspended on Friday along with the rotational power cuts.

The practice would be reinstated, however, should load-shedding be implemented in future and Eskom also intended being more “proactive” in signalling system stress to the public ahead of time.

“Eskom is a complex beast and the more that we inform people of these complexities and the various issues that can potentially affect the availability of electricity I think the better, and the more understanding there will be, frustrating as load-shedding is for the people of South Africa,” De Ruyter explained.

Solving the problem comprehensively required the introduction of between 4 000 MW and 6 000 MW of new capacity, as well as between three and four years of reliability maintenance of the coal fleet to address a backlog that had developed.