Former Eskom CEO Andre De Ruyter has claimed that the current lack of load shedding is due to Eskom burning diesel at a rate of knots and that the private sector will largely take over electricity generation in South Africa. He stated that during his tenure at Eskom, he and former COO Jan Oberholzer had a budget of approximately R6 billion per year to spend on diesel to fuel the utility's open-cycle gas turbines. However, under new management, the current budget for diesel this year is R24 billion, four times more than what they had at their disposal during his time.
Economist Roelof Botha disagreed with De Ruyter's theory that the current load-shedding respite is due to burning more diesel. Instead, he agreed that the current load-shedding respite is a result of the maintenance plan, which included general overhauls and midlife overhauls of Eskom's ageing coal-powered fleet. De Ruyter championed the long-term maintenance programme during his time as CEO at Eskom, which included general overhauls and midlife overhauls of its ageing coal-powered fleet.
De Ruyter advised the government to focus on extending the utility's transmission grid rather than investing more money into Eskom's ageing and deteriorating coal-fired power stations. By doing so, the private sector will be able to take over generation while Eskom continues to play a role in South Africa's electricity market.
De Ruyter has discussed how Eskom's unbundling will determine the utility's future in this regard.
