2014 Integrated Report
105
• Procurement and due diligence processes regarding the conversion of the OCGT plant from
diesel to gas
• The milestones leading up to the commercial operation of Medupi Unit 6 are all expected to be
completed in the second half of 2014
• Lifting of the work stoppage instruction in terms of section 54 notice of the Mines Health and
Safety Act at Ingula to allow for work to continue in the inclined high-pressure shafts
• For the Generation coal projects and Transmission projects, managing the requirements
regarding the integration of the project outage schedules
5 000MW, thus enabling the stable operation of the system. By mid-day the load reduction
was reduced to stage two and at 22:00 the system emergency was cancelled and all load
was restored.
Stages one, two and three indicate the degree of severity of the supply shortfall, and thus
the frequency and duration of the required rotational load shedding, with three being the
most severe.
The curtailment of production at the four units was mainly due to the handling dif¿culties
regarding wet coal as a result of continuous rain over a number of days leading up to this
date. After the load shedding in 2008 following heavy rains, Eskom is mixing coarse coal
with the ¿ner coal to prevent the wet coal from coagulating on the conveyors. However, the
length of this period of wet weather meant that many of the coarse stock piles were depleted.
This was the only incident of rotational load shedding during the year.
• Communication to all customers
In an effort to reduce electricity demand, an integrated communication and stakeholder
“Keeping the lights on” programme encourages all South Africans to “beat the peak” in
winter and to “live lightly” in summer. The Power Alert and Power Bulletins on TV and
radio have proved effective in encouraging customers to reduce their power usage
when the power system is constrained, having achieved a cumulative average saving of
approximately 350MW. In addition, bi-weekly status updates are issued to the media and
quarterly power system media brie¿ngs are held, along with regular national, regional, and
local stakeholder engagements to provide open and transparent information on the state
of the power system.
• International customers
Cross-border international customers are also subjected to load reduction and load
shedding protocols. Customers with discretionary agreements are declined in advance of a
tight supply situation. Customers with non-¿rm agreements follow the same load reduction
and load shedding as large customers in South Africa. Industrial end-use customers are
interrupted in line with their agreements. Those with ¿rm supply agreements continue to
receive supply, but are urged to cut back consumption.