WC Energy Council is committed to working with Eskom

Media Release: WC Energy Council committed to working with Eskom

Premier Alan Winde today, 3 May, chaired a meeting of the Western Cape Government’s (WCG) Energy Council.

The Energy Council is responsible for implementing the Western Cape Government’s Energy Resilience Programme, a comprehensive and whole-of-government initiative to ensure the province becomes energy secure and adds 5 700 MW of power to the grid by 2035, largely through enabling private sector and other role players to invest in critically needed energy infrastructure.

Impact of climate change and inclement weather on power supply

A delegation of Eskom managers was invited to provide an update on the power utility’s response to a host of mass outages experienced in the Western Cape in recent months.

Last month an extreme weather system hit large parts of the Western Cape. The Stellenbosch and Somerset West areas experienced mass power outages caused by strong winds.

Eskom General Manager of the Cape Coastal Cluster, Mr Mbulelo Yedwa, explained that while most of the faults were resolved within 2-3 days of the weather system, it took significantly longer to attend to other incidents. It was explained to the Council that factors such as extensive vegetation clearing did hamper power recovery efforts. Eskom teams also struggled to reach some damaged power lines due to flooding.

The Council and Eskom agreed that the ongoing threat and more noticeable impact of climate change is becoming a major challenge that impacts the company and the WCG’s services. Premier Winde reiterated that the climate crisis is being viewed in a serious light with mitigation measures being considered and instituted across the provincial government. He urged Eskom to do the same to limit the impact of this crisis on the resident of the Western Cape who cannot be without power for significant periods of time due to weather-related events. Premier Winded said, “We need to consider running a risk analysis of the impact of climate change on our power infrastructure.”

Eskom also gave an update on efforts to repair electricity infrastructure that was damaged in another severe storm that affected parts of the Central Karoo in February 2024. Thousands of residents in affected areas had to endure days without any power. Mr Yedwa thanked the provincial government for its assistance in responding to this and other disasters. 

The Council noted that temporary repair work has been completed, with ongoing work to permanently replace damaged infrastructure on track. It urged Eskom to intensify these permanent repair efforts.

Refurbishment of the Koeberg Nuclear Power Plant

Mr Velaphi Ntuli, General Manager of the Koeberg Nuclear Power Plan (KNPP), updated the Council on the refurbishment of the facility to extend its lifespan to 2044/45.

The process to date included:

• Unit 1 was synchronised in mid-November 2024 and has been operational for 166 days.
• Unit 2 was taken offline last December and is on schedule to be back in operation by 30 September 2024.

My Ntuli told the Council that the long-term operation (LTO) process documentation for the plant has been submitted and is being reviewed by the National Nuclear Regulator.

Premier Winde resolved to always maintain open lines of communication at all times with Eskom, which will be accordingly escalated during disasters and emergencies. This will involve regular meetings between the provincial government, municipalities, and the utility. “We regard Eskom as a key partner, and we are always on hand to assist wherever we can. But we must also hold the utility to account, in the interests of our residents. We recognise the importance of Eskom power forming part of the Western Cape’s energy mix, even as the Energy Resilience Programme  is making encouraging progress in diversifying our province’s power sources.”