Sudden (Eskom) generator losses led to Stage 6 load shedding at very short notice. South Africa had as little as 18 000mW available.
Contrary to media releases by Eskom, this is NOT due to an increased maintenance schedule. The schedule has not been adapted at all since Andre de Ruyter’s hasty exit.
The big issue, other than Eskom being technically insolvent, is that those who can afford to pay for electricity have shifted to their own residential and commercial systems. The declining price of panels, batteries and inverters have made this option more affordable than ever. Houses and businesses continue to move across to solar systems where Eskom is now the back-up power and not the primary electricity provider.
On an industrial scale, factories have moved towards highly integrated systems. Initially grid-tie systems worked very well in terms of cost reduction on electricity. The down side being that when load shedding struck, the reference point the inverter used disappeared leaving the business with the same problem: no power. As this has worsened, so grid-tied systems became less viable as a cost reduction mechanism.
In came the generator to cover for this event. Generators can be used as a ‘reference point’ in the event of Eskom load shedding. Genset integration is definitely a route to follow given the condition of the Eskom fleet. The generator idling (usually around 30% of its full capacity) allows the panels to continue working whilst reducing the running cost of the genset as it ‘idles’ at 30% rather than higher diesel consumption at higher rpm. There are other benefits for the longevity of the genset as this places less stress on it. The business clearly benefits as the panels still produce meaning less downtime and improved productivity.
In the event of fluctuating panel production below the requirements, the genset can ramp up to cover those changes.
Not too far in the future with the onset of sodium batteries, hydrogen engines and very possibly home nuclear, the days of large scale utility providers like Eskom appear to be at an end. I am still waiting for my flying car though.
https://mybroadband.co.za/news/investing/525489-eskom-maintenance-lie.html?utm_source=newsletter