State-owned power utility Eskom aims to restore the stability of the South African power grid by the end of March 2020, after the company had to implement massive load-shedding (up to 6 GW of power demand cut off the national power grid to avoid a collapse of the system) against heavy rains affecting its coal supply and flooding three power plants. Many mining companies have had to curtail operations due to power cuts and are facing limits on electricity consumption. The South African government is now considering fast-tracking applications of companies seeking to generate their own power.
South Africa has been facing similar load-shedding periods for years. Eskom is suffering from several opearting and development issues at its coal-fired plants. The construction of two long-awaited giant coal-fired power projects, Kusile and Medupi (4.8 GW) each, is running years behind schedule and tens of billions of rands over budget. The first units that were commissioned between 2015 and 2017 are operating unreliably and are meeting many technical problems. In addition, many other coal-fired power plants are also experiencing failures due to insufficient maintenance.
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