Eskom Suspends Station Managers After Breakdowns
Eskom suspends two power station managers following breakdowns this week.
The power utility suspended the Tutuka and Kendal power station managers after breakdowns triggered stage 4 load shedding this week.
“While it is true that the aging fleet is plagued by legacy issues of neglect and omitted maintenance and is therefore susceptible to unpredictable breakdowns, it is also true that the situation is exacerbated by serious issues of apathetic behaviour by some management staff,” Eskom said in a statement.
According to a statement from Eskom on Friday the managers are suspended pending disciplinary inquiries.
“Further interventions are ongoing at the Kriel and Duvha power stations,” Eskom said.
“Engagements have been held with other power station mangers to ensure that the previous culture of weak consequence management will no longer be the norm and will no longer be tolerated at Eskom.“
Three senior generation managers will be deployed at the Duvha, Kriel, Tutuka and Kendal power stations.
2020 has been the worst year yet for load shedding in South Africa, and this week has seen more massive disruption due to rolling blackouts.
Twelve generation units broke down over the past week, removing almost 11,000 MW in capacity. At the same time, there was a sharp increase in power demand as a cold front hit SA. There is currently a power deficit of 3,000MW in South Africa.
Stage 3 load shedding will continue until 22:00 on Friday, and Eskom warned that it will drag on into the weekend as the system “remains unreliable and vulnerable”.
This week, the Eskom board met twice with minister of public enterprises Pravin Gordhan over the “systemic causes“ of load shedding.
“In these meetings it has been agreed than an urgent culture change and high-level competence enhancement across all 44,00 staff … should be accelerated, promoted and strongly supported,” Eskom said.
ESKOM BOARD AND MANAGEMENT TAKE SWIFT ACTION IN AFTERMATH OF STAGE 4 LOADSHEDDING@News24 @SABCNews @NewzroomAfrika @eNCA pic.twitter.com/OLZltAKzbq
— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) September 4, 2020
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